Torn Ties
by dandelion657
Summary: AU. Sequel to Broken Hearts in the Shattered Glass series. Roughly two years after defeating Mesogog, Maggie and Hunter find themselves moving to Briarwood to help set up a new Storm Chargers for Kelly. What they didn't expect was to get caught up in the power, once again having to help defeat the forces of evil. Is anything ever going to be normal for them?
1. Broken Spell Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 1: Broken Spell**

**Part I**

_A/N: AU. Sequel to __**Broken Hearts. **__Two years after the defeat of Mesogog, and after a little over a year as a surgical intern at Blue Bay General Hospital, Maggie finally has time to help with setting up the new Storm Chargers in Briarwood. Together, she and Hunter must deal with ranger duties once more while raising Bentley and keeping an eye on Maggie's youngest sister. Now in the same town as her half sisters, can Maggie cope with the stress about to come?_

_Remember:_

_This is set in 2006, starting mid February. _

_Bentley is going to be turning 5 early on in this story._

_Maggie and Hunter are dating, but aside from Tori, Kelly, the dino thunder team, and the Chilman kids (who I have planned to make appearances), no one else knows. Obviously Bentley knows, since he believes Hunter is his father. _

_Maggie's half siblings are older brothers Porter and Shane Clark and younger sisters Vida and Madison Rocca. _

_Maggie is twenty one in this story, Hunter is twenty two._

_Other things will be revealed throughout the story, considering the time left off from the previous one. I felt like doing a story in between, but I couldn't think of one._

_Also, as of the moment this chapter is posted, I am currently writing the 62nd chapter of the 8th story in this series. I am extremely far ahead in writing this series. From Mystic Force - Jungle Fury seasons and the story after Jungle Fury for this series are complete as far as writing, and I am still working on writing the next story. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Seriously," seventeen year old Penny Chilman asked her older adopted sister, Maggie. It had been a couple of years since Mesogog was destroyed and life went back to normal. There was no threat last year, giving everyone a break. Maggie was able to successfully begin her surgical career by becoming an intern at Blue Bay General, along with Leanne. She still sang as the beloved singer, Shadow, and she still taught students at the Ember Academy. She had quit a few of her other jobs, and her other bosses understood. She didn't do more than she could handle. "You two have been going out for three years now. How the hell do you keep _that _a secret?"

"We're awesome," Maggie grinned in response. Her son was laughing in his seat at his aunt's pouty face. The four year old was very active for his age, and he was happy. Even though it wasn't official, Bentley considered Hunter to be his father, not knowing better. Neither ninja seemed to mind. "And our friends are clueless because they're occupied with their own love lives."

"Any news on them?" Hunter wondered. They hadn't seen much of their former teammates between work and helping Kelly with opening the newest Storm Charges. Maggie and Hunter were put in charge of it, and when it was complete, they would be the managers, Kelly being the owner.

"Blake, Tori, Cam, and Leanne are having a double wedding in a couple months," Maggie reminded him. She was asked to play maid of honor for both girls, but Tori decided to have Lily fill that duty, considering Leanne knew more about Maggie and vice versa, not to mention that the red head knew Maggie longer. The ceremony was going to be small with just friends and family. "Shane is getting ready to ask, but he's trying to research Carmanian customs when it comes to marriage. Kira and Conner are still dating, Dustin is proposing to Marah later this week, but he wants to wait before they plan the wedding, Lily won't admit she still has feelings for Theo, and Kelly still won't tell me who her boyfriend is."

Penny frowned. "She doesn't have a boyfriend. We would've met him if she did."

"That's what she wants us to think," the brunette smirked. They were moving to Briarwood into a nice little house near where they were setting up shop. Maggie and Hunter were planning to share a room, already in that stage of their relationship, but both not quite ready for marriage yet. Bentley would have his own room, as would Penny. The younger blonde was transferring high schools while her brothers were left under the watchful eye of their grandparents as they completed their senior year at Reefside High.

"Mama, can we see Aunt V and Aunt Maddie?" Bentley asked, eager to see his aunts again. Maggie had taken him for a couple visits up here to see them since Mesogog had been destroyed.

"Let's get there first, all right Ben?" Maggie turned around in her seat to look at him. "Then I'll call them up and ask if we can stop by."

Bentley smiled as Maggie turned back around. Hunter continued driving and noticed a motorcycle pull up behind them, following them. After another few minutes of driving, an earthquake hit, causing the van to shake. Hunter carefully pulled to the side of the road so they wouldn't drive off it, and stopped the car. They saw the motorcycle behind them fall onto the grass nearby, the bike landing on top of him. As soon as the shaking stopped, Hunter and Maggie hopped out, going to check up on him.

"Hey, you okay, man?" Hunter asked, lifting the bike off the guy as Maggie helped him up.

"Yeah, thanks," he nodded.

"Looks like that thing is trashed," Maggie observed. "You passing through or heading in?"

"Heading in to stay with family," the man replied.

Hunter nodded. "Well, we can take you there and help fix up your bike for you."

"Much appreciated," the guy thanked.

* * *

Finally in Briarwood, Hunter pulled the Storm Chargers van to the side of the road, parking in on the edge of the park across from the music store that had been set up. Hunter, Maggie, and the guy they learned was Nick, opened the back doors of the van and dragged Nick's motorcycle out, setting it near a tree as Penny got herself and Bentley out of the van and grabbed the toolbox for the three. As soon as the toolbox was set by them, the three got to work, talking about different bikes they had ridden or repaired.

Bentley looked across the street to see a group of four kids close to his mother's age. One was sitting in a truck bed, bopping her head to music blasting through her headphones as she flipped through a magazine. The girl across from her appeared to be her sister, who was playing with a video camera. He looked around and spotted a red headed boy eating a slice of cheese pizza topped with marshmallows and chocolate. Riding from the corner down to where they were and stopping was another boy riding a skateboard.

Bentley grinned as he recognized the two girls. "Auntie V! Aunt Maddie!" he shouted, beginning to run across the street. Penny saw this and rushed after him, making sure he didn't get hurt. No one was coming down the street, thankfully, but it was still dangerous. At the sound of their names, Vida and Maddie turned their heads, spotting a little four year old boy running to them with his other aunt chasing after him.

"Hey, Bentley," Maddie greeted, bending down to give her nephew a hug. If he was here, that meant Maggie was here. The two girls and Maggie got along really well, and it was as if they knew each other their entire lives.

"Where's your mom, shrimp?" Vida wondered, being the only one allowed to call Bentley that. Well, aside from Lily.

"Mama's helping fix a bike," Bentley bounced around, happy to see his aunts. Chip and Xander shared looks and stood confused. They hadn't recalled the little boy they met three years ago, and they didn't know that Maddie and Vida had a nephew. "Over there," he pointed to where Maggie, Nick, and Hunter were working.

"Come on," Vida grinned. "Let's go say hi." They each walked over as an elderly man with a crowd behind him spoke up. Penny picked up her nephew and walked over as well, along with Chip and Xander.

The old man spoke. "Somebody please help me!" he begged, a small crowd gathering around him. "Please! Someone, anyone! I need help. It's my brother. We were walking just up the road and some creature grabbed him. I fear the worst. I-it's just out of town. The creature took him into the woods." The residents of Briarwood gasped. No one, aside from one they believed to be a legend, had ever made it out of the woods alive.

"Can you imagine that V?" Xander smirked at his friend. "Him asking for someone to go into the woods." He got no response. "V?"

"Won't somebody please help me?" the man pleaded.

"I will," Maggie stood, dropping her wrench on the ground and wiping her hands on her towel. To put in their agreement, Nick and Hunter did the same. She noticed her sisters. "Hey guys."

"Hey Maggie," they replied.

The old man walked to them. "Thank you." Xander, recognizing none of the three, stepped up to them.

"Hey," he greeted. "I'm, uh, I'm Xander. You three are new around here, aren't you? Probably not aware of all the facts. And there's just one. You go into the woods, you don't come out."

"That's a theory I'm willing to test," Maggie retorted, causing her sisters to smirk.

"The guy needs help," Nick added.

"No one else in this city seems to care," Hunter finished up. Maggie smacked his shoulder, sending him a look.

Vida stepped up and joined her older sister. "I'll go with you. Not everyone in this town's a coward."

"I'll go too," Chip offered. "I've always wanted to go on a dangerous quest. This is a dangerous quest, right?"

"Perilous," the two girls responded. The five made on their way, Penny knowing she had to watch Bentley until his mother returned. The old man was leading the group of five, knowing the way.

* * *

"So why are you here?" Vida wondered as the two girls, Nick, Chip, and Hunter followed the old man to the edge of the woods, ready to help him find his brother. Maggie had only been through the woods once before for an emergency, and couldn't believe Xander when he said no one ever left the woods alive. "I mean, not that I don't enjoy the surprise visit, but…"

"That store next to the Rock Porium," Maggie explained as they trailed behind the guys. "Me and thunder boy over there are setting up an action sports shop for our friend while she manages the main one in Blue Bay Harbor."

"Thunder boy?" Vida raised an amused eyebrow. "Does that mean he's…"

"Ew, V!" Maggie interrupted her, seeing where it was headed. "You have a dirty mind! He got that nickname from playing baseball." After all, she couldn't say that he was a thunder ninja, so she had to make up some excuse.

"Yeah, sure," Vida rolled her eyes, the amused look still there. "Whatever you say."

Maggie frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" They stopped at the edge of the forest, seeing as they were about to go in. The old man turned to them, a grave look on his face.

"You sure you're willing to enter?" he asked. "The woods are a very scary place."

"You ask a lot of questions for someone whose brother is in danger," Nick commented.

"Everyone's in danger," the old man stated. This caused Maggie and Hunter to share a look. Was there supposed to be a cryptic message in there?

"'Everyone's in danger'?" Chip repeated. "Yeah!" They heard a car horn honking and turned to see Xander pulling up in Vida's jeep, Maddie riding shotgun. The boy in green parked the jeep as Vida glared at him.

She snarled. "Xander, I told you if you ever took my car, I'd rearrange your limbs!"

"You're going into the woods and never returning," Xander retorted. "As if you're even gonna see it again."

"He's got a point," Chip agreed.

"You are my sister," Maddie sighed, looking at her twin. "Where you go, I go."

* * *

"How should I know, Hunter?" Maggie groaned as they led the group through the forest, not really paying attention to where they were going. None of the others were paying enough attention to listen in on their conversation. "It's been a couple years and I do admit that this is creepy, but how should I know if it'll end up like that again?"

"Just wondering," the blonde rolled his eyes. They continued walking, passing through something odd without realizing it. Maddie, however, did.

"What was that?" she asked, pausing in her step. Everyone turned to look at her. "I felt something…something weird."

"Wait," Nick looked around. "Where's the old man?"

Chip grinned a bit. "Ten seconds in the woods, and we're already lost. All right!"

* * *

The group of seven continued walking, deciding that the only way out was to continue onward. As they walked, Maggie and Hunter hung near the back, talking discreetly to each other, making sure none of the other five overheard them. They had no idea where they were going or which direction they were heading in. "Just trolls," Chip finished up his list of creatures that lived in the forest. "Goblins and elves live in the woods, too. I've also heard that a witch lives here. She's hideous, with green skin and a black tongue with yellow drool that slowly drips from the corner of her mouth when she speaks."

"Remind me not to introduce him to Dustin," Maggie muttered to her boyfriend, causing him to chuckle. "For some reason, I just see that as something to regret in the long run."

"You've been reading way to many fairytales, friend," Nick commented. "Guys," he called, stopping. Everyone turned to him, wondering what he had to say. "There's no such thing as witches."

"How do you know?" Maggie challenged. "Have you ever seen one?" Vida and Maddie stared at their sister, wondering where she was going with this. However, they, Xander, and Chip stared in shock at what they saw behind Nick. Naturally, Maggie and Hunter fell defensive.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Oh, okay. So now you're playing with me. 'Ooh, someone's behind me. I'm so scared!' Boo!"

"There is someone behind you," Vida stated. Nick frowned and turned around, jumping back to the others with a startled yell. They were all staring at a mysteriously cloaked figure, giving Maggie and Hunter a certain vibe about it.

"Anybody want to run?" Maddie wondered, hoping someone would answer.

"Already tried," Xander replied. "But my feet won't move." Out of nowhere, strange creatures came out and surrounded them, not letting them through.

"This answer your question?" Maggie looked at her boyfriend.

"Depends," he shrugged. "But for the most part, it does." They watched as the cloaked figure pulled out a stick with a white jewel at the top. The jewel began to glow as she muttered something the group of seven couldn't understand. Out of nowhere, seven speeding brooms came flying at the seven, each one being picked up.

* * *

The seven flew through the air on the brooms, which were still speeding. When they approached the tallest tree in the forest, the brooms dropped them to the ground, making their landing rough. They all groaned as they stood and brushed themselves off. Hunter checked to make sure Maggie wasn't badly injured, knowing she had a tendency to get hurt a lot.

"Okay," Xander spoke before turning to the three new residents of Briarwood. "So, new guys, now you know why no one goes into these woods."

Maggie looked at her sisters. "How bad is his memory?"

"Well, he did only meet you once a few years ago," Maddie shrugged.

"What are you guys talking about?" Xander looked between the three girls. "You two know her?"

"Why wouldn't we know our own sister?" Vida retorted.

"Since when do you two have a sister?" Xander frowned. As one, Maggie, Maddie, and Vida groaned in annoyance, wondering if he ever paid attention.

Hunter decided to step up. "Any idea what this place is?" he pointed at the giant dragon head made of roots from the tree.

"I call it Rootcore," the cloaked figure from before gained their attention, drawing them to her. Forming a chain, they slowly backed into the dragon head, not looking where they were going.

* * *

The seven people backed into a large room, turning around as they realized they had entered some sort of building. In the center was a table with a giant crystal ball in the center. On one side of the room was an elevated floor that hosted a podium with a giant book on it. From the ledge, stairs leading to the upper parts of the building could be seen. Behind the seven, there were seven brooms in a small hollowed out hole in the wall, each lighting up with a different color. On the table, there were different symbols symbolizing different elements.

"I thought it best you were brought here," the cloaked figure spoke, causing the seven to turn to her. Maggie frowned as she looked down at the table. A circle in front of each seat had a different symbol on it, glowing a different color. She noticed red, pink, green, yellow, blue, orange, and crimson.

She nudged Hunter, getting his attention. "Recognize any of these?" Hunter looked at the symbols and noticed one familiar one.

"That's the thunder symbol," he pointed to the one in the crimson light.

"That's what I thought," Maggie muttered. "The others look like fire, wind, water, earth, and lightning symbols." One of the fire ones was the Ember Academy's logo, and she recognized the water one from the Wind Ninja Academy. The other ones, however, were different variations of the other elements.

"That's right," the cloaked figure regained their attention.

"Hi," Xander greeted. "It's a really nice place you got here. I-it's really…woody." The cloaked figure raised an arm, a white light coming from the tip of it. She removed her cloak, revealing an elder woman with reddish hair and wearing a white coat, shirt, and pants.

She spoke to the seven. "I am the sorceress Udonna. "Welcome to my home."

"Wow," Chip looked around, noticing the place light up. "This is awesome."

"When the seven of you entered the forest," Udonna began. "You stepped into a magical dimension."

"A parallel dimension outside of Briarwood?" Chip raised an eyebrow. "Do we live in a great city or what?"

"Yeah," Hunter whispered to his girlfriend. "We really shouldn't introduce him to Dustin." Maggie covered her mouth with her hands to keep from laughing.

Udonna continued the explanation. "A few years ago, there was a great battle in our world. Dark magic conquered our realm and was about to enter your dimension when we finally defeated them and sent them back to the Underworld. But at a great cost. The gate was sealed with a powerful spell. However, during the recent earthquake, a crack appeared in the gate, and evil has slipped through."

"Remember me?" Xander raised his hand. "Xander? Well, I'm just wondering. What does this have to do with us?"

"I'll take things that run around in brightly colored spandex for four hundred," Maggie spoke, earning confused looks from everyone but Hunter, and Udonna cracked a small smile, realizing she and Hunter must have an idea as to where this was heading.

"What are you talking about?" Vida looked at her sister.

"You'll see," the brunette shrugged.

Udonna brought their attention back to the story. "It could mean the end for both our worlds."

"Please," Nick scoffed. "None of us are buying this fairy tale."

"This is not a fairy tale," Udonna and Maggie stated at once. Everything Udonna had told them was something Maggie had read about in books at the Ember Academy, and after the things she had seen as a ranger, she believed it. Hunter nodded in agreement.

"What I tell you is what happened," Udonna continued, standing in front of the podium with the book.

"Let's hear what she has to say," Vida suggested. "We can always leave after that."

Udonna motioned for them to gather around. "The Xenotome," she began once they formed a circle around it. "The book of the unknown. In it is everything we do not know." Strange characters appeared on the blank page.

"What kind of language is that?" Maddie frowned. "I've never seen it before."

"It is the language of the ancients," Udonna stated. "You will soon learn it." She began to read. "It says that when evil rises again, seven mystical warriors from the human realm will step forward. You are those warriors. You are…"

"The power rangers," Maggie and Hunter finished, knowing exactly where this was going to end up.

"Oh nice!" Chip grinned, causing the two ninjas present to share a look.

Xander spoke up once more. "Look, excuse me, but there must be some mistake. How are we gonna defeat pure evil? Our school hasn't even won a football game in, like, six years."

"These," Udonna held out seven carefully crafted sticks with different colored jewels and symbols atop each one. "Are your magic wands." She proceeded handing them out, giving yellow to Chip, blue to Maddie, pink to Vida, green to Xander, crimson to Hunter, orange to Maggie, and red to Nick. "Never go anywhere without them." Each jewel glowed brightly for a moment before fading.

"Udonna!" a young girl, maybe a few years older than them, came running in. Maggie blinked at her, wondering why this girl looked so much like Krista, aside from the hair. It was the Marah-Cassidy thing all over again in her mind. "Udonna!" she stopped in front of the woman, noticing the new people. "Oh! Hello. Nice to meet you. Uh, excuse me." She whispered something into Udonna's ear.

When she was done, Udonna turned to the others. "You must stay here until I return. Do not go into the woods by yourselves." With a snap of her fingers, she vanished.

"I wish I could do that," the blonde muttered, snapping her fingers and nothing happening. "I practice and I practice, but…nothing." She realized that the seven were still there and slowly turned to them. "Oh, um, hello again. Um, I'm Clare, sorceress in training here at Rootcore."

"Okay," Nick decided. "That's it. I'm out of here."

"Oh, no," Clare stopped them. "You can't go. Udonna said you had to stay here until she returned."

"We all better go," Maddie suggested.

Maggie sighed and looked up to Hunter. "As much as I'd like to continue getting to know what we're about to get into, I really need to check up on Bentley and Penny." Hunter nodded, agreeing with her. They had been gone a couple hours, and they needed to check in.

"Oh, this is not good," Clare mumbled. "I…I know! I will conjure a spell that will freeze you where you stand until Udonna gets back. Um…corum oviat detrob!" Unfortunately, the spell turned her into a sheep, instead of doing what she originally hoped she could do. Quickly, Nick, Xander, Chip, Vida, and Maddie put their wands back on the Xenotome, heading out. Maggie and Hunter gave the sheep an apologetic look, taking their wands and heading out.

* * *

A/N: I'm cutting it off here because I don't want it to get too long. Things will become clearer as the story progresses, and I have an idea for Maggie's family (it has to deal with Cam being her cousin and marrying Leanne and Leanne's side of the family).

From today to about May 20th, updates for all my stories are going to be slow. The only one I can try and update is this one, since I have written it all. My reason for slow updates for the next month is because of school work starting to catch up to me (I have a research paper on _Gone With the Wind _due in a couple weeks and I've barely started the report let alone not finishing the book, two major projects to do for college classes I'm in that I only have 2-3 weeks to work on) as well as trying to get a job and starting to look at colleges. So if some of my stories aren't updated for more than one week, then it's because of school work catching up to me.

Also want to thank everyone who has stuck with this series and reviewed it all so far!


	2. Broken Spell Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 2: Broken Spell**

**Part II**

_A/N:I promise I will have other characters appear, and at the end of this chapter I will put couples that will be mentioned/featured in any story in this series from this point on and their current relationship status in this series. Anyway, we left off with the soon-to-be rangers leaving Rootcore, Maggie and Hunter having enough common sense to bring the wands Udonna gave them. Now what trouble will they run in to?_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Come on," Nick called as he led the seven through the woods. They had no idea where they were going, but five out of the seven agreed they just wanted to get back home and wake up from this dream. Maggie and Hunter were the only ones to believe in what they had been told, having gone down this road before. The only reason they left was because they wanted to check up on Bentley. The seven came to a stop upon reaching a little village that had been wrecked. Little creatures were everywhere, trying to pick up debris and search for lost items.

"Look," Maddie gasped, seeing the damage done.

"Who are they?" Xander wondered.

Udonna's voice grabbed their attention. "I should've known you wouldn't stay at Rootcore."

"What happened here?" Maggie stepped forward, taking note of the scenery.

"Woodland village was destroyed," the older woman explained as they got closer. "Tomorrow it will be another village. The darkness destroys everything within their path until they find what they want."

"What are they looking for?" Chip asked.

"Me," Udonna replied. "And then they will go after you."

Nick wasn't buying it. "Hold on just a sec. I never agreed to be part of this."

"You think any of us did?" Hunter raised an eyebrow. After all, the power chose you.

"It is them!" the voice of an elf caused them to turn. "It is them! The protectors are here! Hail the Mystic Force!"

"I always wondered what it'd be like to be worshipped," Xander grinned. Vida and Maggie gave him a look. "It's not so bad." Out of nowhere, a monster appeared. Upon seeing it, Maggie and Hunter instinctively got ready to fight, falling defensive. "Okay, that's bad!"

"Take out your wands," Udonna ordered. Maggie and Hunter did as they were told, holding them in their hands.

Chip looked nervous. "Uh, we kind of left them back at the tree."

"All right," Udonna sighed. "Stand back." she faced the monster and drew her wand. "You leave me no choice. Magical Source, Mystic Force!" Before their eyes, Udonna transformed in to the white mystic force ranger. "Flurry of Snow! White Mystic Ranger!"

"Now that's cool," Vida stared wide eyed in awe. Chip was at a loss for words as they watched Udonna fight off the beast before them. Out of nowhere, the same creatures from before appeared.

"Guys," Nick called. "We got company."

"We got it," Maggie and Hunter grinned, calling upon their elements. Maggie lit her fists on fire as Hunter got ready to fight with her. Both charged the creatures, breaking up the crowd so it'd be easier to take them down.

"You got two choices," Maggie called to the others as she knocked a creature down into another one. "Surrender and be destroyed, or fight!" She jumped up, kicking off the shoulder of one creature and bashing in the head of a second while tossing fire at a third and fourth. Hunter was using a similar method of fighting, and both ninjas found themselves in their ninja uniforms.

"We fight," Nick agreed.

Xander didn't like that plan. "No no no no. There's a third option. Plan Xander. I'll just reason with them."

"Hate to break it to ya," Hunter yelled to them. "These things don't listen to reason." As soon as he said that, one of the creatures knocked Xander back, creating a bigger fight between the seven and the creatures. Nick, Vida, Chip, Maddie, and Xander weren't doing so well, considering they weren't used to fighting like Hunter and Maggie were.

Maggie shared a look with her boyfriend, knowing that this was not going as planned. They had already taken down their share of creatures and moved to help the others. It was going to be a long day once they got back home. "Just remember," Udonna realized their situation. "To use magic, all you need to do is believe in Magic!"

"Well I do!" Chip shouted. "I do believe in magic!" from something inside him, yellow bolts of lightning shot out, hitting the creatures and knocking them down. "It works. Guys! The magic really works! Just believe!"

"I believe," Xander breathed. "I believe in magic." Arms from the tree he was resting against shot out and took down the creatures.

"I believe in magic," Maddie shut her eyes, hoping it would work. The creatures surrounding her were shot upward by jets of water before being dropped.

"I believe," Vida agreed. "I believe!" Before she knew it, she was spinning around like a tornado, a whirlwind forming around her and blowing away the creatures. "Whoa! I'm a tornado! And I'm pink?" she stopped spinning, a giant grin on her face. "I like…well, all except the color." Nick, however, didn't have as much luck as the others did when it came to magic. Udonna managed to destroy the beast before helping Nick out with the creatures.

Once everything was gone, the seven and Udonna regrouped. Udonna powered down and looked at the seven as they contemplated the fight. "Well well. Very nice. You truly are the ones. Are you up to the task? Are you now ready to accept your legacy?"

"No doubt," Hunter nodded. He and Maggie already knew that if this happened to them, then they were in it for the long haul.

"Oh yeah, Chip smiled. "Bring it on!"

"I'm in," Vida added. "I kicked some serious evil back there!"

"This is so unlike me," Maddie sighed. "But I'm sticking with my sisters."

"Someone's gotta look after these guys, right?" Xander shrugged. They all turned to look at Nick.

"Me?" he raised an eyebrow. "No way. I'm outta here."

Udonna walked toward him. "Are you sure this is what you choose?"

"Look," Nick breathed. "The I believe in magic thing didn't work for me."

"Try believing again," Maddie suggested. "Maybe it didn't catch on the first time."

"He is a non believer," Udonna shook her head. "I can do nothing for him. Clare will see you out of the woods safely. Clare!"

"Here I am!" the sheep walked in, causing Udonna to chuckle.

Udonna couldn't help but smile. "Oh, my dear child. When will you get your spells right? See him safe passage out of the woods."

"Yes Udonna," Clare answered. "Follow me." Nick followed Clare out of the woods. When he was out of sight, a bright purple ring behind the seven others opened, dispensing a warrior in bluish purple armor with a big shield.

When he spoke, he gained their attention. "You may have defeated my hidiacs, but you will not defeat me!" he drew a sword from the shield. "Wolf attack!" Seeing as they were about to be hit, Maggie threw up a strong fire shield, deflecting it back onto the man. When the smoke cleared, they all faced him. "Darkness has come."

"I got a bad feeling about this," Hunter spoke low enough for just the others beside him to hear.

"I do not know you, warrior," Udonna looked at him. "But if it's a battle you want, I am ready to fight."

"Hold on," Xander stopped her from doing anything else. "Let me try and reason with him."

Maggie held him back. "Just trust her, will you?"

"Hi," Xander ignored her. "The name's Xander."

"I am Koragg," he responded. "The Knight Wolf." He chanted something no one but Udonna understood, and to their surprise, a horse emerged from the ground, and he combined with it, becoming larger than life in the process.

"Had to see that coming," Hunter grumbled as they stared up at Koragg.

"Centaur," Chip stared in awe. "A real centaur! I want one!"

Koragg laughed. "You are now just pebbles under my hooves." He went to make his move, causing the team to back up.

"Get back," Udonna ordered. "You are not ready to fight his kind. I am."

"What?" Maggie and Hunter looked at her. They had both fought at that level before, but this time, they didn't have accesses to zords yet. Udonna ignored them and stepped forward, morphing once more. They watched as she made herself as big as Koragg and the fight began.

* * *

After fighting Koragg and losing her snow staff, the soon-to-be rangers and Udonna made their way back to Rootcore, gushing about how awesome the fight was. Losing her power was a bit draining on Udonna, and it had taken a bit of a toll on her. "Without my snow staff," Udonna explained. "I cannot fight anymore. But I can still train you. I can teach you the ways of magic. Clare?" the sheep sauntered in.

"Coming," she appeared near them.

"Oh child," Udonna smiled. "Morthay mamoran." She hit Clare with the spell, turning her back into a human.

"Why didn't you do that sooner?" the blonde wondered, getting to her feet. "Do you know how warm it is was in all that wool?"

"If I do everything for you, then how will you ever learn?" Udonna retorted. She turned to the rangers, handing the other four their wands. "This time, go nowhere without them."

"We already learned our lesson," Xander chuckled. "But, to tell you the truth, walking around town carrying a wand…well, it might be good for Chip, but…" Even Clare had to agree with him on this.

Udonna nodded. "Very well." She cast a spell over the wands, changing them into something better. "I hope you find these more to your generation's liking."

"Cell phones," Vida grinned. "Very cool."

"They are your mystic morphers," Udonna added. "They are activated by spell codes that you will come to learn along the journey. Now, go back to the city, live your normal lives, and wait until you're needed. Remember, there is evil everywhere, and you would be best served speaking to no one of what has happened."

"I can show them the way out of the woods," Clare offered.

"No," Udonna denied. "They must find their own way. Just remember…the trees are your passage."

* * *

After figuring out what Udonna meant and finding their way back into the city via tree portals, the six new rangers found themselves in the park across the street from the Rock Porium and the soon to be Storm Chargers. Maggie and Hunter followed the other four as they walked past their boss Toby and into the music shop, where Vida, Maddie, Xander, and Chip worked. As soon as they entered, Bentley came running up to Maggie, causing the brunette to wrap him in a hug.

"Where the hell were you guys?" Penny demanded, coming up to her sister and Hunter. "He's been asking for you two nonstop."

"We had something to take care of," Maggie replied, using a tone that said she'd explain later. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

"Lils called and said that she might come visit in a couple months," Penny shrugged. Before she could spill something else, Vida pulled Maggie away and over to where the DJ booth was located, hoping to weasel something out of her sister.

"All right," she stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "Spill it."

Maggie frowned. "Spill what?"

"Oh come on," Vida scoffed. "What's going on between you and blondie over there? You two sure acted more than just friends in the woods."

"We've known each other for a few years," Maggie explained. "Nothing more, nothing less. He's helping me with opening the new Storm Chargers because our boss, Kelly, thought we'd work well together."

"Yeah, right," Vida rolled her eyes. "But I'm also talking about how the hell you two seemed to see this coming!"

"Oh," Maggie rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Well, uh…"

"Mommy and daddy were power rangers," the four year old standing next to Maggie explained to his aunt, not knowing better. "They kick bad guy butt!"

Vida smirked at her sister. "Oh really? Smart kid."

"Big whoop," Maggie huffed. "So I've been one since 2003. Hunter's been one only in 2003. I've served on two teams and can shrink. I'm a ninja who can control fire, he's a ninja who can control thunder. Nothing major."

"What about your son calling Hunter his dad?" Vida pressed.

"As if it isn't obvious," Maggie snorted. Vida's smirk grew wider. "Oh please. Like I don't know about your major crush on…"

"Shh!" Vida shushed, not wanting her sister to spill anything. "Shut up about it, will you?"

It was Maggie's turn to smirk. "Hey, you shouldn't have brought the subject matter up."

Vida glared at her sister.

* * *

"Oh, check out the uniforms," Maddie smiled as they finished passing through a tree into the woods. On their way through, they had all transformed into uniforms. Black jackets trimmed in their ranger color, a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and it just wasn't complete without the cape. Maggie had left Bentley with her sister, who understood what was going on.

"And cloaks," Chip grinned.

"Capes?" Hunter raised an eyebrow. "This is new."

Vida frowned at her attire. "I hate pink." Thunder crackled in the distance.

"That wasn't me," Hunter swore.

"You can go to the complaints department later, Vida," Maggie patted her sister on the shoulder. As usual, she was loving her orange gear. A horde of hidiacs appeared before them, looking to fight.

"I hope every day isn't going to be like this," Maddie muttered. The hidiacs began stepping closer as the rangers fell defensive, getting ready to fight. Right away, as most ranger teams did when fighting foot soldiers, they split up the hidiacs, each taking on a good sized group of them. Maggie and Hunter were finding it difficult to fight with the capes, but they knew they had better learn to adjust. They weren't used to fighting with capes and had to adapt to them, if they were going to survive this ranger journey.

Mid fight, Chip realized something. "She said we'd know when to use our wands. I think this is the time!"

"You think?" Vida raised an eyebrow.

"Let's ranger up," Xander suggested. Falling into formation and following Maggie's lead, they all pulled out their morphers.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

As one, they all morphed. Xander became the green mystic force ranger, Vida morphed into the pink ranger, Maddie was blue, Chip was yellow, and just like they had been, Hunter was crimson and Maggie was orange. Their visors were in the shape of their element symbol, and they had capes on their uniforms. All three girls had skirts on theirs.

"Strong as a tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever-changing as the Wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the Sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as Lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Loud as Thunder! Crimson Mystic Ranger!"

"Bright as Fire! Orange Mystic Ranger!"

Now fully morphed, the rangers charged once more, taking on the hidiacs. Maggie and Hunter were still doing better than the others, thanks to years of fighting experience. Vida, Maddie, Chip, and Xander found themselves doing better than they previously did, thanks to the power boost. Xander was the first to draw his magi staff and use it in ax mode, knocking down hidiacs. Vida and Maddie did the same with theirs, and Chip followed suit, his turning into a crossbow. Hunter pulled out his only to find it was able to transform into a staff, similar to the one he used in his first time as a ranger.

Maggie brought out her magi staff, converting it into her weapon. "A mace…that's new." Grinning, she swung at the hidiacs, knocking them down. All six rangers regrouped as thunder rumbled in the sky, Hunter once again swearing it wasn't him doing it. Upon hearing evil laughter, they turned to see Koragg appear out of nowhere.

"It's Koragg," Xander stated.

"We can take him!" Vida grinned beneath her helmet.

"You can try," the warrior stepped forward. "But you are no match. I call on my sword for the darkness!" he drew the sword. "This is your end!"

"Why do they always say that?" Hunter looked at his girlfriend. She shrugged, not really caring about that part.

"Okay," Xander breathed. "Now what?"

Before Maggie could reply, Koragg answered his question. "Now you will feel the power of dark magic."

"What do you think we do?" Maggie smirked at her teammates who were new to this. "We kick ass!" Before they could do anything, Koragg sent them all down to the ground, hard.

"I will not be merciful this time!" he warned. He walked over to the rangers struggling to get up. Maggie and Hunter were supporting each other as they tried standing. Koragg walked over to them, sword pointed at them. "You're doomed. Any last words?"

In the slight distance, they heard the roar of a motorcycle engine as well as a familiar voice enter. "Yeah, just one" they all turned, seeing Nick riding in on his bike. He jumped off it and knocked Koragg back, keeping his helmet on. He landed in front of the others. "Come on!"

"Now there are seven," Koragg grumbled. Nick removed his helmet, showing he was serious.

"I guess there are," he agreed. "This is as good a time as ever to start believing in magic." Koragg brought his sword down for the strike, but Nick blocked it with his hands as they glowed red. "I do believe in magic!" Koragg was shot back, away from the rangers who were now standing, or trying to. A glow surrounded the boy as it left him in his mystic uniform. his morphed appeared in his hand. "Magical Source, Mystic Force! Fearsome as Fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Prove to me your worthiness," Koragg challenged. "Battle my forces. Hidiacs, arise!"

"You fight with words, so be it!" Nick accepted. He began fighting off the creatures, defending his team.

Maggie looked up to her boyfriend. "I think I liked it better when there was just one person who controlled fire."

"Why?" Hunter wondered.

"Because this just means I have a new fire student," Maggie grumbled. "And I have enough problems with the four I already have." The six other rangers watched as Nick fought off all the hidiacs, taking them down by himself. All the hidiacs exploded as the other rangers ran over to him, ready to help him fight.

"Nick, that was awesome!" Chip grinned.

Before they could resume celebrating, Koragg interrupted. "Do not celebrate rangers. This was just one battle. Next time, the outcome will be different." He vanished and the rangers began walking away, feeling good about the new powers.

* * *

"Now that we're a team, do you guys feel like helping?" Xander asked Nick, Hunter, and Maggie, who were leaning against a wall in the Rock Porium watching the others clean. Hunter was holding Bentley, who was watching his aunts and their friends work. Maggie was on the phone, setting up a few things about getting her sister transferred to Briarwood High. Xander, Vida, Maddie, and Chip were all cleaning the music shop, which required a lot of work.

"I fight soulless mutants," Nick answered. "I don't clean."

"And we don't work here," Hunter added. "Once she's off the phone, we gotta go unload things in the van across the street and into the store next door."

"Then out of the way, buckos," Vida walked by.

"Okay," Nick shrugged. "But as a wise old woman once asked, 'do you believe in magic'?"

Vida caught on to what he was saying. "You think?"

"Well, I believe," Maddie pulled out her wand. She waved it over comics that were on the floor, and they immediately flew onto the shelves. Chip followed suit, making the broom sweep the place. Xander used his to take out the trash. Vida found herself restacking CDs onto the shelves.

"This is so wrong," Hunter shook his head. He and Maggie knew better than to use their powers for personal gain.

"Hurry," Nick warned. "Someone's coming." They all pocketed their wands and resumed their activities as Maggie pocketed her phone and Toby walked into the store.

"Okay," he began. "I knew you wouldn't, uh…oh. You would. It's clean. Very clean. It's the cleanest it's ever been. Maybe it's lost its edge. Have I become a mega shop?" He began rambling as a petite blonde in a green top and a jean jacket walked in.

She gained their attention. "Hello. I'm new in town. Can somebody help me?"

"That'll be me," Xander grinned as he and Chip moved forward, hoping to help her. Vida, Maggie, and Maddie shared looks and giggled at their behavior.

"I want…" the girl looked between the two boys before spotting Hunter and Nick. "Them." Maggie quickly looped her arms with Hunter, sensing that this was going to go south fast. The blonde girl walked over to the two boys, ignoring the look Maggie was giving her and not noticing the young boy in Hunter's arms.

"Sorry," Nick chuckled. "But we don't work here."

Maddie got an idea. "You know, Toby, you really got to hire this guy," she pointed at Nick, knowing Hunter and Maggie were here to open up a new shop and wouldn't have time to work at a different one. "Because he was instrumental in cleaning the store."

"Wait, I wasn't looking for a job," Nick argued.

"Who's the greatest guitarist ever?" Toby questioned.

"Well, it's got to be Jimmy, but…"

"You're hired," Toby interrupted. "Now, help the customer." He walked away, the blonde grabbing Nick's hand and dragging him away.

She smiled. "My name's Leelee Primvare. And yours?" the other six rangers stood together, giggling and laughing at the scene they put their red ranger in to.

"That was good," Maggie commented, looking at her sister. "Nice job."

* * *

A/N: Well, this is this chapter. What's going to happen in the next one? I can't wait until the Dark Wish arc, and I might alter a few chapters a bit to fit the story line I have planned.

Couples that will be here post Mystic Force in this series (as well as kids, if any, and status)

Maggie/Hunter: Dating secretly, Maggie has 4 year old son named Bentley

Shane/Skyla: Dating, close to being engaged, no kids.

Tori/Blake: engaged, soon to be wed, no kids

Leanne/Cam: same as Tori/Blake.

Tommy/Kim: married, nine year old Sephie (ten in August) and one year old Grace (turns two in December).

Hayley/Billy: (probably won't be mentioned, but for future reference in case of a future story) Married, five month old Dianna.

Kira/Conner: dating, no kids.

Kelly/Unnamed Man: dating secretly

The unnamed man Kelly is dating will be revealed in a later story, and I have a HUGE role for the red headed shop owner to play in the next story (again with a messed up family tree).


	3. Code Breakers

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 3: Code Breakers**

_A/N: Okay, I'm gonna say this now that there may possibly be one character appearance every couple of chapters, starting with this one. There won't be appearances in the major arcs such as Dark Wish and Stranger Within, but hey, who knows? I'm also trying to work in a team up with Dino Thunder, but it's a matter of figuring out how to do that. I do have a couple characters planned to come in soon, so let's see where this goes._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

Nick, Maddie, Vida, Chip, Xander, Maggie, and Hunter were fully morphed in their mystic ranger uniforms, racing through the treetops on their new flying bikes that their brooms turned into. It was part of their training for the day, led by Udonna. It was about a week after they received their powers, and things were going great. The seven rangers sped by Clare, who was out getting ingredients for a potion.

"Heads up!"

"Coming through!"

"Look out!"

"Sorry!"

"Come on, thunder boy!" Maggie looked back at her boyfriend, who was slightly behind her. "You're outta practice!"

Hunter scoffed. "Hey, I've been practicing more than you!"

"I'm a natural!" Maggie called, speeding up. "Come on, ladies! Let's show these boys up!"

"All right!" Vida grinned. The three girls sped up on the bikes, flying high and zooming by the boys, all who kicked theirs into gear and tried to keep up. They kept the race up until they circled Rootcore a couple of times, dismounting in the air and demorphing in the process. Their bikes turned back into brooms as they caught them in their hands.

Udonna appeared. "Very good, rangers. That's enough mystic racer practice for today."

"Aw come on," Chip whined. "One more lap around the forest."

"Yeah," Vida agreed. "I'm just getting warmed up. I wanna see what this bad boy can really do."

"I'm afraid not," Udonna denied. "It's time for elementary incantations."

"Boring," Vida and Chip chorused.

Maddie frowned. "Hey, I think that sounds kind of interesting."

"Only you, sis," Vida shook her head. "Udonna, the mystic racers are amazing. But now that we're power rangers, don't we get lots of other cool stuff, too?"

"I mean, no one's more excited than me to finally get to wear a cape," Chip agreed.

"Finally?" Xander chuckled. "If I remember correctly, you used to come to school with a pillowcase…" the others stopped hearing him as Maggie giggled. They all stopped and looked at Xander, who was still talking like nothing had happened. The others all got grins as they realized Maggie had just removed his mouth.

"See V?" the orange ranger smirked. "Elementary incantations can be fun."

Udonna turned to the girl. "How did you learn that spell? That one takes a lot of practice and power."

"Um…"Maggie bit her lip. "It's a long story involving the video game Wizard Wood and being trapped in it." She gave Xander his mouth back.

"…back," the green ranger finished, not realizing anything had happened.

"Yeah," Chip nodded. "But that was a long time ago."

"That was last week, mate," Xander pointed out.

Chip shrugged. "Well, anyway, Vida's right. We're official superheroes now. Where's the rest of the vehicles, weapons, and gadgets that we get?"

"Sadly, everything takes time," Hunter sighed.

"Wait a few months and the red guy will get an awesome power up that no one ever has the chance to get except the red guy," Maggie muttered.

"The Xenotome holds the spell codes that can unlock magical powers beyond your imagination," Udonna explained.

Vida looked at the older sorceress. "So what are we waiting for? Let's bust it open, load the codes, and get our booty."

"It doesn't work that way, Vida," Udonna stated. "As you perform heroic deeds and grow as rangers, the Xenotome will reveal spell codes when the time is right."

The sorceress led the rangers away, Vida and Chip lingering behind.

"Man," Xander groaned as five of the seven rangers studied incantations at the table in Rootcore. Vida and Chip had said they would catch up to the others later, and they were hoping they would keep their word. Books were lying open around the table, the rangers looking at them. "Look at all these incantations. How is my brain supposed to fit in all this information?" Maddie and Maggie shared a look.

"Why don't you let me help you with that," the blue ranger offered. She pulled out her wand and pointed at Xander. "Craneor Magnus." Xander's head began to blow up like a balloon, causing Maggie, Nick, and Hunter to laugh. "Now you have a lot more room."

"And I thought he had a big head before," Maggie giggled.

"Very funny," Xander huffed. "Madison, if you wouldn't mind." Maddie pushed a button on her wand and his head returned to normal.

Udonna smiled at how they were interacting with each other. "Clare?" she called. "Didn't I ask you to gather some stickle berries for this protection potion?"

"Oh, I did have a big basket of them," Clare spoke. "But I accidentally dropped it when I was attacked by the giant worm. I'm really sorry."

"Giant worm?" Udonna turned to the blonde in alarm.

"Well, I think it was a giant worm," she bit her lip. "I didn't really see it because it never surfaced. But then this freakish looking gnome or troll or goblin knocked me out of the way and saved me."

"Did you see who it was?" the older woman wondered.

"No," Clare denied. "He took off before I could thank him."

Udonna frowned. "This is troubling."

After leaving Rootcore and picking up her son from the daycare she found for him, she was walking around the city, Bentley being pushed along in his stroller. It wasn't an all that bad day out for the end of February. She was going to meet Hunter at the new Storm Chargers to keep watch over the decorating and repairs. She had left Rootcore earlier and was taking a different route to the store. As she walked along the sidewalk, she noticed a kid with a lemonade stand. She bought one for her son and handed the cup to him, walking five feet further to find her sister and Chip sitting at another lemonade stand. The difference was that the sign read "Heroes 4 Hire," and not "Lemonade."

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, getting their attention.

"We're trying to do heroic deeds so we can unlock spell codes," Vida explained.

"Yeah," Chip nodded. "But how do you figure being heroes for hire is gonna get us more codes from the Xenotome?"

"Udonna said that heroic deeds unlock the codes," the pink ranger stated. "So all we got to do is perform a bunch of heroic deeds, and we're golden."

Maggie chuckled. "I don't think she meant this. But let me know how this works out for you."

"Bye Auntie V!" Bentley called as Maggie walked away, pushing him in the stroller. "Bye Chip!"

"Hey, Chip and Vida never showed," Xander realized as four of the five other rangers were walking around the city, heading to work. Hunter was going to meet Maggie at the soon to be new Storm Chargers so they could work on that as the other three headed for the Rock Porium. "Where do you think they went?"

"I don't know," Maddie shrugged. "But when my sister gets that crazy look in her eye, it usually means trouble."

"I'll show you real trouble," a voice called out, causing the four to stop short and face a black figure with wings spouting from her head and back.

"Who are you?" Nick demanded.

The figure spoke. "I am Necrolai, dark mistress of the Underworld."

"I'll handle this one," Xander stepped forward. "Hi. Xander Bly. Whatever the problem is here, I'm sure we can just talk this one out."

"You wish!" Necrolai fired at them, making them all hit the ground to avoid it. They all stood, ready to fight.

"Let's ranger up," Nick ordered.

All four pulled out their wands. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

Together, the four rangers set off fighting. Hunter and Xander charged first, only to be pushed back by Necrolai. Nick and Maddie flipped forward and ended up behind the vampire queen, surrounding her with the green and crimson rangers' help. All four took turns charging, each filling in the gap where the other left off. Necrolai fought back and was proving to be a tough challenge for the rangers. Nick and Maddie were the first two to go down before Xander used his ax and the four regrouped.

"Playtime is over!" Necrolai scowled. She flew into the air, firing at the four ranger before flying away and swooping back down, knocking them over. "Let's go for a ride!" she grabbed each of them and flying off, the four struggling to break free.

Unfortunately for them, she tossed them into the overgrown Mucor, the day's monster.

"Let's check the Xenotome," Vida suggested as she and Chip walked in to Rootcore, hoping to find something. They had been performing "heroic deeds" since Maggie had left them earlier, and now they found the brunette sitting at the table in Rootcore, starting at the crystal ball in the center of it. Bentley had been left with her younger sister, since Hunter wasn't around and she wasn't about to bring Bentley to Rootcore unless it was absolutely necessary. Udonna was also there, mixing a potion and watching the yellow and pink rangers. "What? Nothing? This thing must be broke."

"What are you doing?" Udonna frowned, looking over to them.

"We've been doing heroic deeds all day," Chip huffed. "And haven't gotten one new code. Being a superhero is kind of a rip-off."

"A rip-off?" Maggie raised an eyebrow. "It's far from a rip-off."

"It seems you know very little about being a superhero," Udonna agreed with the brunette.

Chip continued. "Are you kidding? No one knows more than me…"

"I have a friend who's willing to challenge that," Maggie interrupted.

"…I've spent a fortune on video games, DVDs, graphic novels, trading cards," the red head continued.

"Okay," Vida interrupted. "Okay." The crystal ball made a sound, alerting them to something wrong. Maggie stood alert as the other three came over. The clouds inside began turning gray as it displayed a picture of Mucor attacking the city.

"The others are in trouble," Udonna realized. "You must stop it."

"Us?" Vida looked at her. "Look at that thing. It's massive! We'll get pummeled!"

"You might," the sorceress nodded. "There's only three of you and two of you've hardly mastered your ranger powers. Are you afraid?"

Vida shook her head. "N-no. I-it's not that I'm…"

"I'm totally scared," Chip raised his hand. "Look. My goose bumps, they've got goose bumps."

"This is nothing to be afraid of," Maggie scoffed. "I've seen and felt real fear before. This is far from it."

"What do you…" Vida caught her sister's look as her mind flashed back to 2003, when she had first met Maggie. "Oh…right."

"What?" Chip looked between the two, as did Udonna. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," they quickly replied.

Udonna rolled her eyes. "That creature's size and strength are unlike anything you've encountered."

"But Maddie, Nick, and Hunter," Vida began.

"Even Xander," Chip added. "They need us."

"We got to try and help them," Vida stated.

Maggie smiled as she stood. "Come on."

"Real heroes are born in the face of danger," Udonna told them as they left.

The three nodded, drawing their wands. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

Maggie, Vida, and Chip rode their mystic racers toward the monster that ate their teammates. He was tall, ugly, and ready for a fight. All three were morphed and ready to take on Mucor and free their friends. They stopped mid air and halfway toward the monster, facing it and taking a moment to work out a quick plan. "There is it," Vida called. Maggie pulled out her wand and pressed it to her ear.

"Guys, this is Maggie," she spoke. "Where are you?"

"_Inside the belly of the beast," _Hunter replied._ "Spread it out!"_

"_I think he's got room for seconds!" _Nick added.

"I don't care," Vida huffed. "I'm going in!"

Maggie nodded. "Right behind ya sis." She and Vida sped forward on the racers, charging the overgrown monster. He stood and swung at the two as if they were annoying little flies and tried swatting them away. Vida jumped off her bike and used her mystical wings and fairy dust as Maggie created a fire shield to protect the two. Mucor sneezed, a bunch of green goop and the rangers coming out. Nick, Maddie, Xander, and Hunter, still morphed, stumbled onto the ground as they landed.

"All right!" Vida cheered as she and Maggie made their way to their level. "It worked!" Maggie helped her boyfriend stand straight as the others stood.

"I'm covered in monster muck!" Nick groaned, noticing the slime covering the four. Maggie grimaced and backed away. Mucor fired at them, prompting Chip to race toward him on the mystic racer. He stood on it, magi staff at the ready. The yellow ranger switched it to crossbow mode and took aim, ready to fire. He hit the monster dead on, causing Mucor to fall flat on his back. Chip joined the others on the ground.

"Just doing our jobs," Chip grinned. "Right Vida?"

"All in a day's work," the pink ranger agreed, sharing in the joke. Out of nowhere, the ground began shaking as Mucor grew back, hungry and ready for a fight.

Sharing a look, all the rangers stood in formation.

"Strong as a Tree, Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever-changing as the Wind, Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the Sea, Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as Lightning, Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Loud as Thunder, Crimson Mystic Ranger!"

"Bright as Fire, Orange Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as Fire, Red Mystic Ranger!"

The fight against Mucor had gone rather smoothly once the rangers gained new zords to help them fight. Together, the seven rangers were able to form their first megazord as a team and take down their first overgrown monster as a team. Of course, they had the giant worm that attacked Clare to take care of as well, but that quickly became old news as they managed to take that down as well. Now, things were back to normal for the moment, and aside from Nick, the others found themselves back at the two shops.

"I'm telling you she's gonna be pissed," Maggie bit her lip as she stared at one of the walls the painters had painted earlier. Kelly had given them instructions on how she wanted the new Storm Chargers to look inside and out, detailing every last bit from color schemes to how the racks of gear were to be set up and the lighting fixtures. It appeared she really knew what she was doing, and she trusted Hunter and Maggie to fulfill the job of taking care of getting everything set up.

"It's barely noticeable," Hunter argued, not doing much to try. After all, it was his job to tell the painters what to pain each wall.

"Hunter, a wall covered in pink and white flowers with a baby blue background is going to stand out when all the other walls are colored in sunshine yellow," Maggie pointed out. She patted her boyfriend's shoulder sympathetically. "You're dead."

"Any chance I can avoid her wrath?" Hunter looked at his girlfriend. Maggie had known the red head longer.

Maggie smirked. "I'm afraid not. When she wants something like this done, it's gotta be done perfectly."

"Any chance we could repaint it?" Hunter hoped.

"It's possible," the brunette shrugged. "But she's coming down next week to check on the progress, and it has to be done by then."

A/N: Honestly, I thought that I would be able to fit a character appearance in here. Oh well. I like how this one turned out. I'm not going to include most zord fights unless I have to, so yeah.


	4. Rock Solid

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 4: Rock Solid**

_A/N:Okay, so for the most part, these chapters take place in the month the episode aired, and by the end of this story, it'll be November. Well, I have a character appearance for this episode, and though it centers around Maddie being turned to stone, that's not exactly gonna happen how it should. She won't be the only one turned to stone. I am actually starting to like writing this season and will write it more often. Also, I have it planned for when Dustin will make an appearance. Any guesses as to when he will?_

_Remember, Maggie and Shadow are the same person!_

_Also going to point out that Bentley is not biologically Hunter's, but because of Hunter and Maggie's relationship, Bentley sees Hunter as the father figure in his life and Hunter considers Bentley his son._

**_Info about upcoming stories of mine and such will be at the bottom._**

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week later in the beginning of March, most of the rangers could be found hanging out or working at the Rock Porium. The only one not present was Hunter, having had to oversee what was going on with the Storm Chargers next door. Maggie was in the Rock Porium, watching Vida interact with her son as she waited for someone she was supposed to meet appear. Maddie had her camera out again, and the only one hidden from sight was Nick. Bentley seemed entranced by what his aunt was doing at the turntables.

"Hey, nice shirt," Vida commented as Maddie came to capture her two sisters and nephew on camera. Bentley spotted his other aunt and grinned.

"Aunt Maddie! Auntie V says I grow up to be music man!" he grinned, bouncing on his feet. Maggie laughed as Vida smirked and Maddie grinned.

"It's possible," she agreed, shooting her older sisters amused looks. She may have been Vida's twin, but she was still the younger of the two. "This is great stuff sis."

"Here," Maggie pulled out a disc from her bag. "Play this. Latest hit from Shadow."

Vida grinned and took the disc and began to playing. Shadow was one of her favorite artist, and though she had no idea her older sister was really Shadow, she idolized the singer for not being afraid to say what she felt, just like Kira Ford, who sang under the same record label as Shadow. "You're a genius behind these tables," Maddie finished.

"Thanks," Vida smiled. "Hey, you know I'm in the zone." Maddie nodded and moved to find another one of the rangers to film. She walked by Leelee, camera pointed at her before quickly turning and heading to Xander.

"Been another attack," the green ranger spoke. "Right around here." He flashed the paper, showing the top story about a local man who was turned to stone. "Man turned to stone. Uh, Chip, we're meant to be marking them down."

"Uh, yeah," Chip agreed as Maddie turned the camera on him. He was stacking CDs onto a spinning rack. "We are. I suppose you're supervising, right?"

"He catches on fast," Xander nodded.

Chip took on a dramatic effect for the film. "Every price shall fall under my mighty hand, for I am Count Discounts, Defender of the Bargain Bin, hero to slacker and collector alike. Pow! Pow! Pow!"

"Okay," Xander stood from his chair. "That does it. Come here, man." He took the price roller and rolled a couple of the price stickers on Chip's purple vest and shirt. "One last touch," he finished, adding one to Chip's forehead. He flipped up the boy's collar. "Now you're really Count Discount."

Maddie chuckled and moved over to film Toby, who was yelling at an elderly customer who didn't seem to understand something. With a huff, the man left and Maddie looked at their boss. "Toby, why so cranky today?"

"I'm fasting," he replied. "I'm trying to cleanse my body and my mind, which means no food – no pork rinds, no cheese fries, no snack cakes, no nothing. I'm so hungry, I could eat the oldies section."

"You know," Maggie walked over. "That's really not healthy."

"What isn't?" Toby frowned.

"Everything you just said," the young doctor pointed out. "Fasting in a large time frame isn't good, and neither are pork rinds, cheese fries, and snack cakes. If you're fasting, it's okay to eat a few crackers and have some water. Also, a good way to cleanse your body and mind is through meditation. It saves you the trouble of starving yourself."

"Who are you, anyway?" Toby blinked, not sure if he had been properly introduced to her.

Maggie smiled. "Maggie Simmons. I'm Vida and Maddie's older half sister. Me and my boyfriend are building the new Storm Chargers next door."

"Storm Chargers?" Toby asked, unsure of what it was. Maddie walked away in search of Nick, hoping to get something on him.

"An action sport shop," Maggie explained. "You have no competition, considering this place is music and Storm Chargers is action sports. Two completely different markets."

"How did you know that stuff about fasting?" Toby inquired.

"I'm one of the youngest surgical interns in the state working at Blue Bay General Hospital," Maggie stated. "I graduated med school two years ago." Toby nodded and walked away, hoping to find some water in the back room. Maggie leaned against the counter, waiting for someone to show up. A few minutes later, a girl slightly taller than Maggie and a little bit older than her with long, very curly black hair wearing her usual jeans, tank top, and boots walked in. "Skyla!" the brunette hugged the girl.

"Maggie," Skyla returned to it. She had a few things to discuss with Maggie, which was why she stopped in town. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Maggie nodded. She called for her son, who came running over as she grabbed her bag. Maddie walked out of the office, seeming a bit depressed. "Maddie, why don't you talk a walk with us?"

Maddie shrugged and followed the two girls outside and the four headed for the park.

* * *

"Wait wait wait," Maggie blinked. She, Skyla, and Maddie were walking through the park, the two older girls holding Bentley's hands as they walked along. Skyla had just revealed a big piece of news to Maggie, after being introduced to Maddie. "When the hell did he do this? Why didn't he tell me he was planning to? I totally would've helped him set it up."

"Maggie, relax," Skyla chuckled. "He proposed a couple nights ago. We're going to wait until after the double wedding to plan ours, but yes, he did propose and we're engaged." Since spending a few years on Earth, Skyla had quickly adapted to Earth customs and ways, learning all she could about it.

"Wait, so, you're an alien?" Maddie frowned, still stuck on when Maggie had explained who Skyla was and told her the older woman knew about the rangers.

Skyla nodded. "Carmanian. We possess powers that we pass down onto someone, whether it be a human, alien, or one of our own, and though we're supposed to die after we pass on our powers, we give our powers to our soul mates."

"Carmanians are somewhat all knowing," Maggie helped. Maddie nodded, still slightly confused. "Okay, so is you telling me you're going to become my sister in law the only reason you're here? Because I sense there's something more."

"Tori told me to come see you," Skyla sighed. "She says you would be able to tell me what's wrong if I told you the symptoms, and she has a theory as to why I was feeling sick."

"Why didn't she send you to Lena?" Maggie frowned. "I mean, not that I don't mind the visit, but…"

"You know more about Carmanians than she does."

Maggie nodded. "So, symptoms?"

"Just vomiting and the urge to eat a lot," Skyla bit her lip.

"Common symptoms of pregnancy," Maddie pointed out. "Another sign is if you're late."

"Late?" Skyla frowned.

"Maddie, Carmanians are pretty much exactly like humans with minor differences," Maggie recalled from what she studied. "One of those differences being that none of the female Carmanians suffer through that horrible one week during the month every month. If one were to get pregnant, they'd have to be tested at the first sign of any symptoms, taking into account the fact that Carmanians never get sick."

"She's right," Skyla shrugged.

Maggie turned to the slightly older woman. "I can test you later if you want."

"Sure," Skyla agreed. Out of nowhere, a football came flying toward them, hitting Maddie in the head. Skyla and Maggie stopped in their walking, checking up on the girl as she rubbed the spot on her head.

A guy with light curly brown hair wearing tan shorts, sneakers, and a red and white t-shirt came running over. "Hey, sorry about that," he apologized. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Maddie nodded, looking up at him. She had to admit he was kinda cute. Maggie and Skyla smirked after spotting the blue ranger's look while Bentley just stared up at his mother and his aunts, confused.

"So, do you practice here every week?" Maddie asked the guy, trying to start a conversation.

"I would if I knew you were gonna be here," he shrugged, smiling. Maddie blushed a little bit, unsure of what to say. "I'm Ben."

"Madison," she shook his hand. "Maddie." Shouting gathered everyone's attention , including the group of four's. Maggie, Maddie, and Skyla became alarmed as people were running away, screaming. There wasn't much the three could do without risking Bentley's safety.

"What's going on?" Ben looked to the three girls. An ugly monster appeared, firing at Ben's friends and turning them into stone. Maddie shoved Ben away, telling him to get out of there. Before the three girls could move any further, the monster fired at them and turned the three into stone, leaving Bentley unharmed.

Bentley looked up at his aunt and mother, wondering why they weren't moving. He was still holding their hands, just like they were his, and he found himself stuck. He didn't have the strength to move the stones they had turned into. Before anyone else could be hit, Nick, Hunter, Xander, Vida, and Chip appeared, morphed and ready to fight. "Daddy!"

Hunter turned around and saw Bentley stuck between his mother and Skyla and noticed that the two girls as well as Maddie had been turned into stone. Vida ran to check on her sister as Hunter ran to check on his son, leaving Nick, Xander, and Chip to protect them against Necrolai and the latest monster.

Before they could do anything, the two villains disappeared.

"We got to get them back to Rootcore," Hunter stated.

* * *

Getting to Rootcore for the rangers wasn't a problem on a normal day. However, when they had to carefully move the stone Maggie, Skyla, and Maddie, all while trying not to hurt Bentley and moving him as well, it was quite a hassle. With some help from Udonna, they were able to get the four safely back to the base, where they would be protected. Bentley was repeatedly asking Hunter questions, wondering why his mother couldn't move.

"Sorveda mercuius," Udonna tried another spell on the stone encased girls. Just like the other spells she tried, nothing happened. "This creature's magic is very strong. Only by destroying him can the spell be broken."

"Oh I'll destroy him all right," Vida vowed. "With my bare hands." Hunter was on the same page as her, but he had a son to calm down. Vida headed for the monitors, hoping to find something on the monster. Xander ran over to stop her.

"Daddy, why is Auntie V mad?" Bentley looked up at the crimson ranger. He wasn't scared as much as he was confused, but Hunter was sure that he was scared somewhere.

"She's upset because that mean monster hurt her sisters," the blonde whispered, paying attention to the argument ensuing.

Nick decided to but in. "Xander's right. That's how they got into trouble in the first place. They shouldn't have been out there alone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vida demanded.

"Nick, be careful with your words," Hunter warned, knowing where this was headed. After all, he had gotten on the wrong side of a few female rangers he knew, and he learned his lesson.

"They probably got in over their heads, V," Nick theorized, not knowing any better.

"Man, you don't know my sisters," Vida growled. "Maggie's the toughest and strongest one out of all of us even without her powers, and Maddie may be shy on the outside, but inside she's got the heart of a warrior!"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Right. That's why Maggie's always being cautious and Maddie's always hiding behind that camera."

Vida turned to Hunter. "Back me up on this."

"Maggie's cautious for a good reason," Hunter helped her out. "She's got to be since she's a mother." Of course, that was true, and both he and Vida knew there was more he could add, but Maggie would kill him if the others knew about her childhood without her giving her consent.

"You are so clueless," Vida turned back to Nick. She took out her wand and pointed it at Maddie's video camera. "Here's why she's always behind the camera." Video appeared on the screen, starting with a close up on Vida spinning a few tracks.

"_Introducing DJ Vida," _Maddie's voice narrated. _"One of the best sisters ever. Go V." _the screen showed Xander sitting in a chair with his skateboard. _"Can't forget Xander. Not only a great friend, but he's sick on his board."_

Chip was shown on screen as the others who could gathered around it. _"No man has ever attempted this without losing his life!" _With a bow and arrow in hand, he took aim at a target yards away from him.

"_Chip Thorn," _Maddie went on. _"Known him since grammar school. There's nobody in this world quite like Chip."_

"No offense, but I know a guy who could challenge that," Hunter patted the yellow ranger on the shoulder, causing him to frown. Maggie had said something along the same lines before as well, and the red head was beginning to wonder who they were talking about.

"_Let's not forget about the other best sister in the world, Maggie, her son Bentley, and of course, Hunter," _Maddie proceeded narrating. The video showed Maggie, Hunter, and Bentley working on repainting a wall in the soon-to-be Storm Chargers next to the Rock Porium, and the three were locked in some sort of paint fight. _"Probably the strongest people I've ever seen." _Of course, only Vida and Hunter knew what she really meant by that.

A picture of Nick riding his motorcycle came on. _"Then there's Nick – the new guy in town. We don't know too much about him yet, but I can feel it – he's something special. So those are my friends, old and new. I know I can count on them for anything."_

Udonna decided to speak her piece. "Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves, Nick. Maybe Madison does it through her films."

"You're right," Nick sighed. "I was clueless. I shouldn't have gone shooting my mouth off." He moved down to where Hunter, Chip, and Bentley were standing with the three statues. He walked up to the one of Maddie. "I'm gonna get you out of this Maddie, I promise." The Xenotome flipped through some pages, and Udonna read its contents.

"Apparently, you now have a clue," she smiled. Just then the crystal ball alerted them to danger in the city. The rangers looked at it for a moment before rushing out, Hunter staying behind because his son wouldn't let him go, and he was afraid his son would hurt himself accidentally if he wasn't there.

* * *

Hunter and Udonna were watching the fight, also trying to figure out alternative ways to break the three girls out of the rock spell they were under. Bentley was growing tired from standing, and that much was obvious. He had grown quiet in the time that had passed, and Hunter knew that he would fall asleep soon. A moment after watching the others destroy the monster, they heard voices.

"Stiff!" Maggie's voiced reached their ears, causing them to turn and see the three girls turn back to normal. "Stiff stiff stiff stiff!"

"Ow," Skyla winced, stretching a bit. Being trapped as a rock was uncomfortable. Maddie was blinking, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Mama!" Bentley, hands now free, clung to his mother's legs, prompting the orange ranger to pick him up and frown at her boyfriend.

"The spell is broken," Udonna grinned.

Maddie finally found the words she needed. "Okay…does somebody want to tell me what's going on?"

"No time," Udonna denied. "The others are still in danger."

"Come on," Hunter motioned for Maddie to join him as they went to find the others and help them. Both knew that now that his mother was free, Bentley would not be letting go of her any time soon.

* * *

After taking down the over grown monster how they normally did, the rangers found themselves back at the Rock Porium. Skyla had gone back to Blue Bay, which was only about a half hour away. Vida was once again at the turn tables, Maggie with her. Hunter was talking to Toby about something regarding setting up speakers in the new Storm Chargers, Bentley at his side. Xander and Chip and Nick were working as Maddie walked around with her video camera. "What's got you so happy?" Vida nudged her older sister.

"I'm going to be an aunt," the brunette grinned. After being freed from the rock thing, Maggie had run a couple tests on her future sister-in-law to see what was wrong, and it turned out that Maddie's theory was right.

"Congrats," Vida chuckled. She noticed her sister with the camera, and so did Maggie.

"Make sure you get our good sides, Maddie," the orange ranger advised. Maddie laughed as Vida turned around and shook her butt to the music. Maggie smirked as she recognized the guy from the park step in front of Maddie, causing the blue ranger to shut off her camera and pull it away from her face.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hey," Maddie smiled.

Ben went on. "I've been looking all over town for you, Maddie. I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier."

"Oh, it was nothing," Maddie bit her lip, moving away from the turntables and Ben following her.

"Are you kidding?" he chuckled. "It was, like, incredibly brave. In fact, before all that happened, I was gonna ask you out. But, I guess I was too shy."

"You were?" Maddie looked at him, not believing it. "Really?"

Back at the DJ table, the other rangers gathered around, watching the scene unfold as Maddie began showing Ben around the store. "Looks like Madison's really trying to come out of her shell," Nick commented.

"Yeah," Vida agreed. "But if that guy messes with my sister, he's gonna have to deal with me."

"Don't worry," Nick took a seat. "She can take care of herself."

* * *

A/N: This turned out a lot longer than I thought. Up next, people hear voices. Maggie hears a voice that haunts her (will have nothing to do with this story, but is going to happen now because of a story further in the series) and Nick gets a voice trapped inside his head.

**What's going on with my current stories:**

Shattered Glass series: updated Wednesdays and Sundays

House of Rangers: updated Thursdays

Falling For You: updated Fridays, once I get over my writer's block for it.

**Stories being planned:**

New Girl (info on profile): will be updated Saturdays, once I get around to writing it which will be soon

This One's For the Girls (no info yet): Pretty Little Liars/Glee crossover planned for the future. Will be updated Mondays when I get to it

Rewrite of Daughter of Legends series (no info yet): will be updated Tuesdays when I get to it

So I have six stories in the making, three current and three starting to be written. More info will come on those that don't have information yet, but that's the update schedule. I won't always be able to update every week on those days, but if I don't update a story on the day I said, the update will be out the next day. I still have writer's block for Falling For You, so don't expect that update for a while.

Thanks to readers, reviewers, followers, and those who favorited!


	5. Whispering Voices

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 5: Whispering Voices**

_A/N: Again, I am liking writing this season into this series. I find it working quite nicely with it, and I have come up with a few ideas regarding Maggie's family (not necessarily her biological one), which will make it larger and possibly more confusing. Don't worry, I have drawn out her family tree by the time it'll reach the RPM story in this series, and then I added a smaller one for the post RPM in this series, and let's just say that it could become a jigsaw puzzle._

_I am not in a good mood because my computer got infected with a spyware virus (as usual), and I have to use it in safe mode, meaning I get no sound so I can't really do anything on it. _

_I am also going to be posting a Power Rangers one shot called **Mad World **today. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week later, the rangers were once more hanging out in the Rock Porium, most of them working. With Maggie in Blue Bay Harbor finishing up her weekly shift at the hospital, Hunter had taken Bentley to the music shop, where he and Chip immediately began fooling around. Both boys were wearing tall paper hats resembling a king's crown from some era Hunter couldn't remember, and towels were pinned to the shoulders of their shirts and acting as capes. As usual, Vida was at the turntables with Maddie and Xander working. Hunter was leaning against the counter, flipping through a motocross magazine where his brother – yet again – was featured on the cover.

As Nick walked into the shop, he found the yellow ranger and four year old pop up from a fort of boxes they had made, Chip pointing a plunger at him while the young boy was pointing a plastic sword (one his uncle Roger had sent him as an early birthday gift) at the red ranger. "I say there, most incredulous fellow," Chip began, using a funny accent. "You're standing in our moat."

"You gonna be eaten by a crocodile!" Bentley added, trying to mock Chip with the accent.

"Saltwater or freshwater croc?" Nick cautioned, deciding to go along with it just so he could get by. Bentley looked up at the red head.

"Uh…freshwater, I think," he frowned.

"Oh," Nick nodded. "Then it's my lucky day." He knocked the plunger out of Chip's hand and used it as his own weapon. "For I know firsthand that it's the saltwater croc that is more dangerous to man. So, I'll just swim on through." He handed the plunger back to the yellow ranger and moved between the two boys, effectively entering the rest of the shop.

Over at the turntables, Maddie ran up to her sister, waving a CD in her hand. "V!" she moved to the other side of the table. "V? Hey, V! V!" She finally got her sister's attention. "I want you to listen to this CD. It's really cool."

"Not now Maddie," Vida denied. "I'm in a groove." She proceeded with her dancing and whatnot. Maddie pulled out her wand and used it to put the CD into the machine, changing Vida's music that was coming through the girl's headphones. Funk music began playing, and liking it, the pink ranger grinned madly and began dancing.

"Whoa sis!" she grinned. "This bumps!"

"I told you," Maddie laughed. "Hey, Xander, come check this out. It…'bumps.'"

"No can do," the green ranger denied. "I'm doing the cash for Toby. He asked moi to do the bank drop off for him." He accidentally bumped into Nick on his way out, causing him to drop the packet. Nick bent down and picked it up.

"Looks like you already dropped it," he commented. "And not even at the bank. A thousand dollars? Sure could use that kind of cash."

Xander took the envelope from him. "We all could." Maddie waved Nick over to the turntables as Maggie entered the shop, looking a bit tired. She went to stand by her boyfriend, who wrapped an arm around her and briefly kissed her before turning back to his magazine. Chip was still playing with Bentley.

"Long day?" he asked, reading the article he was on.

"Very," she yawned. "I got to scrub in on a surgery. Highlight of my day. What's going on with you?"

"Reading another article about Blake and Bentley's having fun in his land of pretend with Chip," the blonde pointed the two out, causing Maggie to smile a little.

Leelee walked in as Xander handed a customer her purchased items. "She was cute," the blonde spoke to the green ranger, causing Maggie to roll her eyes. She couldn't explain it, but something about the slightly younger girl made her feel a bit uneasy. "She liked you."

"You think?" Xander raised an eyebrow, seeming hopeful.

"Trust me," Leelee scoffed. "She liked you…a lot."

"Don't even bother, Xander," Maggie rolled her eyes, turning around to face him.

"Why not?" the green ranger frowned.

Maggie sighed. "Because apparently you were blind to see the wedding ring on her finger. Besides, she lives like, two and a half hours away in Angel Grove. You never would've stood a chance and she's at least fifteen years older than you. Not to mention the fact she's expecting."

"How do you know all this?" Xander looked to her.

"She works for my grandmother," the brunette answered. "Though I haven't seen much of her around lately." She turned back to her boyfriend. "Hey, come on. We gotta help Tor and Lena and Cam and Blake with their plans."

"Don't remind me," the crimson ranger groaned. He put the magazine down and picked up Bentley, Maggie following them out of the store. Xander moved away from the counter to the back of the store to help another customer, allowing Leelee to take the money envelope in the bank deposit box and hide it among a pile of papers.

* * *

Come afternoon, most of the rangers could be found at Rootcore. Hunter was in Blue Bay Harbor with Bentley, helping his brother out with wedding plans. Bentley didn't want to come back home with Maggie, so she allowed him to stay with Hunter while she returned to Rootcore for a little bit of magic training. The only other one not present was Nick, and no one had seen him since the morning. Chip was practicing a levitation spell. "Levitatus Milanda." He floated to the ceiling of Rootcore, high above the others.

"I don't need a spell to do that," Maggie snorted. She shut her eyes and focused before floating up as well. Once at the same level as Chip, she opened her eyes and grinned.

"How?" the yellow ranger looked at her.

Maggie flashed her wrist where a tattoo with three oddly shaped rhombuses sat. "Pai Zhuq master. It was one of the techniques I learned."

"Look," Xander picked up a previous conversation. After Maggie, Hunter, Bentley, and Leelee had left, he had noticed that the money he was supposed to drop off at the bank was missing. Of course, Leelee's story about a thief robbing music stores and being an inside job helped him reach a conclusion. "I'm not saying for sure it's Nick, but I know I didn't take the money, and I know you probably didn't take the money."

"What do you mean 'probably,' Xander?" the pink ranger gave him a look, daring him to explain.

"I don't mean anything," he assured. "I just know I didn't take the money."

"And you know that we 'probably' didn't take it?" Vida finished.

Maddie stepped in. "Hey hey hey, cool it V. Xander knows we wouldn't steal from Toby or anybody. Are you sure that you didn't just misplace the envelope?"

"I put the envelope into the box, and then it was gone," Xander nodded. "Trust me. Someone took it. I mean, it can't just fly away." As if an idea struck all three at once, they turned to face the two flying rangers.

"Oh, so just because we can fly, you think one of us stole the money?" Chip scoffed.

"I bet you Leelee had something to do with it," Maggie suggested. "Something about her just seems…off."

"So you don't like her?" Xander raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Vida added her thoughts. "Is it because she's been flirting with Hunter whenever you're not around?"

"Or what about because she's just generally mean?" Maddie offered.

"What?" Maggie screeched, stopping her levitating and setting foot on the ground. "She's been _what?"_

"Flirting with Hunter," Vida repeated, unaware her sister didn't notice it before. "He doesn't seem to notice she is because he's always too busy looking up things for Storm Chargers, but she flirts with him."

"That bitch!" the brunette growled.

Xander got an idea. "Maybe you took the money."

"Why the hell would I take it?" Maggie demanded. "What would my motive be? What would I gain from it? And the same thing for Nick. What's his motive? Is it possible that Leelee was playing a trick on you? After all, there were no reports about a robbery before this."

"She brings up a good point," Maddie agreed.

* * *

The next day, Maggie and Hunter were supervising the work being done in the new Storm Chargers. Bentley was at the local daycare Maggie had signed him up for, and Penny was out with some of her new friends. Taking a break from watching the older guys work on the store, she headed next door to see what was going on with her friends and to figure out if they were any closer to solving the money mystery. She walked in and found everyone searching frantically as Toby stepped out of his office.

"Hey there, my underqualified, overpaid, favorite employees ever," he greeted, oblivious to the levitating Chip.

"Hey boss," Vida made sure his back was to the yellow ranger.

Toby frowned at three of his employees as Maggie watched the scene unfold. "What are you all looking for?"

"Does it look like we're looking for something?" Xander questioned. "Because we're not."

"Okay…" Toby nodded slowly. "Well, continue, uh, not looking for whatever it is you're looking for." He turned to head back into his office and spun back around just as Chip's feet hit the ground. "Xander, we…" he paused, turning around to face Chip, confused. "Chip, uh, did you just…"

"He was testing the stability of the shelves," Maggie helped out her friend. It was a lie, sure, but anything to protect the secret. "He found a loose screw on the ground and was trying to figure out which shelf it belonged to."

"Okay…" Toby blinked, turning back to Xander. Chip sent Maggie a grateful look. "Uh, Xander, did you make the, uh, bank drop off for me?"

Xander shared a quick look with the Rocca sisters before replying. "I said I was gonna do that for you, right boss?"

"Yes, you did," Toby agreed. He walked back into his office, a bit frazzled.

"Oh man," Xander groaned. "I can't believe I just lied to Toby."

"Well, technically, you didn't lie to him," Chip pointed out. "Technically, you just asked him a question."

"Look, the money's not here," Vida concluded. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together." Sharing a look, the four younger rangers headed outside where they knew Nick was working on his bike. Maggie, however, lingered behind. As she leaned against the counter, she accidentally bumped a stack of papers, an envelope falling out. She frowned, picking it up and recognizing it.

She shrugged and set it on the counter, deciding to let the others make their own mistakes about assumptions and learn from them.

* * *

When the rangers arrived on the beach in morphed form after getting a call from Udonna, they found Nick already there, morphed, and fighting off Koragg. Xander, Maddie, Vida, and Chip had seen him take off earlier, leading them to assume that he possibly wouldn't be back. Maggie and Hunter knew otherwise, knowing that you could never escape the power once it was yours. The four other rangers were all feeling stupid at seeing Toby correct them and learning that Maggie had been right all along in who took it, even if they never really proved it was Leelee.

"Nick, are you alright?" Vida asked as she and Maddie helped him up. The other four shielded them as they did so.

"We know you didn't steal the money," Maddie added, hoping it would help.

"We're sorry we jumped to conclusions," Xander gave his input.

"Actually, it was Xander's fault," Chip put the blame on the green ranger.

Hunter and Maggie rolled their eyes before the crimson ranger spoke. "Uh, guys? Anyone else care about the purple guy trying to destroy us?"

"Now that you are all here," Koragg spoke as the seven rangers stood against him. "I shall finish this. Usay rejor catastros! Samba gunitos equestras!" he became his gigantic centaur self once more, causing the rangers to be slightly afraid.

"That's what he used to defeat Udonna," Maggie pointed out.

From there, the rangers used their zords.

* * *

After the fight with Koragg, the rangers could be found at the Rock Porium, as usual. Though they hadn't defeated Koragg like the monsters they faced, they had caused him to retreat. They knew it was only a matter of time before he would be back to challenge them again. Vida and Maggie were by the turntables, the younger girl showing her older sister more about them. Bentley was with Hunter next door in the new Storm Chargers, doing what a four year old could do to help with a job like that.

However, before they could officially get back to work, the others had to apologize properly to the red ranger. Since she never made accusations against him, Maggie headed into the shop next to the Rock Porium, where her boyfriend and son were. "Nice progress," she commented upon entering, seeing that lighting and plumbing fixtures had been added.

"It's how Kelly wanted it, right?" Hunter asked, hoping he hadn't made a mistake yet again.

"She said she didn't care about what lighting fixtures we chose as long as it matched the aura of Storm Chargers," Maggie explained. "And I think these ones will do."

"Good," the blonde let out a sigh of relief. He did not want to face his boss's wrath on something as important as this.

"Come on," Maggie grinned, picking up her son and taking her boyfriend's hand. "Let's go get something to eat."

* * *

A/N: So…not the best chapter in the story so far. Oh well. Up next might have quite a bit of fluff, and I will try to include more fighting scenes in it. What'll happen next time when a legendary horse comes into play?


	6. Legendary Catastros

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 6: Legendary Catastros**

_A/N: Okay, so this chapter may have quite a bit of fluff in it, but I promise to keep some stuff from the episode in it. A couple old characters may appear in this one, and I have someone coming in during "Stranger Within," and I bet you can all guess who that is. So, with this said, let's see how this chapter goes, shall we?_

_I am really excited right now because I **finally** __got a job interview to somewhere I applied! Hopefully I will be working at a Dunkin Donuts soon. Happy Mothers Day!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

The rangers found themselves inside Rootcore, listening to a story Udonna was telling them. The weather outside helped set the perfect mood for the story, considering it was about a scary legend and a thunderstorm was sweeping the area. It had been a week since the missing money incident, and since learning that Leelee had been flirting with her boyfriend when she wasn't around, Maggie was trying to see for herself if it was true. She had left Bentley at the daycare she signed him up for as she and Hunter were at Rootcore and her sister was at school.

"Gather around rangers," Udonna got their attention. "And hear the story of the beast stallion, whose strength was known across the land – the legendary Catastros!" a picture of a horse came to life and pranced around the room, making the story come to life – literally. It dove into the crystal ball and the story began playing on it as the sorceress narrated. "Many have tried in vain to break the mightiest creature of them all. But Catastros was stronger than a hundred men, and no one was able to harness his fearsome power. Catastros fled into the forest during the great battle of good and evil. But before the seal was closed… evil reached up…and dragged Catastros down to the lowest depths of the pit."

It was silent for a moment. Then, Chip spoke, grinning madly. "That was the scariest story I have ever heard. Tell it again!"

"Definitely not a bedtime story," Hunter mumbled.

"Even I'm a little freaked out," Vida admitted. Save Maggie, they all turned and looked at her. "Just a little."

"Well, I'm not scared," Xander chuckled. The lights began to flicker before dimming. Thunder roared loudly as the power briefly went out. When the lights came back on, everyone aside from Maggie was staring at Xander, who was in Vida's arms being held up and holding onto her for his life. "Just making sure you're safe, V."

"I'm fine," she answered. "Thanks." She dropped him on the ground, making the green ranger land on his butt. Udonna couldn't help but chuckle at the relationship the rangers all had.

Hunter got his girlfriend's attention by tapping her shoulder. "Do I want to know what you're thinking about?"

"Nope," she grinned, sitting on the table. Vida, Maddie, Nick, and Chip joined her as Xander and Hunter stood at either end.

"You guys can't possibly be afraid of a silly horse," Nick scoffed.

"Make no mistake," Udonna warned. "Catastros is a forced to be reckoned with, Nick."

"But Koragg must've tamed him since he has control over him," Maddie theorized.

Udonna nodded. "Yes, for Catastros remains loyal to Koragg to this day."

"Don't you just love a good rainstorm?" Clare smiled as she walked into the room, her hair covered in a pile of white goop. "Washes away the stress of the day." The rangers couldn't keep themselves from laughing as they noticed the hair.

"Clare," Maggie bit her lip. "You're steaming."

"Oh, yeah," the blonde shrugged. "I crossed a hot cocoa spell with a spell of protection – keeps me warm on these cold, stormy nights."

Vida had enough. "Your hair!" she squeaked as the rangers could no longer contain their laughter. "Your hair." Clare touched her hair with her finger and noticed it was whipped cream.

"Oh!" she gasped in a bit of horror. "I forgot to omit the part about the toppings. I'm allergic to whipped cream!" the rangers backed up a bit as Clare started to sneeze, which unfortunately sent splats of whipped cream onto the older sorceress. The rangers tried stifling their laughs as Udonna walked out of the room. "Quick, Nick, point your wand at me and say 'finishio.' It'll make it disappear. Hurry!"

"Finishio?" Nick tried as he pointed his wand at her. It seemed to work because Clare's hair returned to its normal golden locks.

"Thanks Nick," she breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I uh, better go." She made her way out of the room.

* * *

A bit later the next day, when the rangers were working at the Rock Porium, everyone was moving efficiently. The story of Catastros Udonna had told them was the furthest thing on their minds, especially since they were watching Hunter adjust the bowtie on Bentley's tuxedo. They had no idea why both boys were all fancy, and they had no idea where Maggie was. "Nice of you to join us," Xander commented as Nick walked in, putting on his vest.

"Sorry I'm late," the red ranger apologized. "Didn't sleep much."

"Aw, did that scawy thunder keep you up?" Vida teased, using a childish voice. "Oh, I forgot. You're not afraid of anything, right?"

"Very funny," Nick snorted. Maggie chose that moment to walk into the shop, wearing an almost floor length sleeveless pink dress with a black sash around the middle that tied into a bow in the back. They could tell she had heels on based on the way they clicked on the ground, and Chip heard her muttering something about stupid dresses. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun, the orange stripes hidden from view.

"Who are you and what have you done to Maggie?" Vida demanded, noticing her sister. Maggie was not one to wear dresses.

"A double wedding," the brunette grumbled. "Naturally, I get chosen to be the maid of honor at one of them and of course, I have to wear this stupid, uncomfortable dress!"

"Don't call unless you absolutely need us," Hunter pleaded. "We won't be able to sneak away because some of the people there don't know we're rangers again, and it would look odd."

Maggie sighed as she picked up her son. "We'll see you guys later." She and Hunter ran out and drove away.

* * *

Maggie sat at a table talking with Kelly, Lily, and Kira during the reception of the double wedding of Blake and Tori and Cam and Leanne. Maggie had been the maid of honor for Leanne while her little sister was Tori's, and Hunter had filled in as Blake's best man. The four girls were watching as the guys were all talking. The happy couples were switching between the dance floor and talking to guests. Bentley was jumping around the place, on the dance floor with some of the other younger kids in the brides' and grooms' families.

"How's my shop coming along?" Kelly asked as they started conversing. Out of the four girls currently seated at the table, only Kira and Maggie were in relationships (though the girls were convinced Kelly was seeing someone). Maggie's was kept secret from most of the people present that she knew, excluding the three she was currently talking with. The only ones who didn't know she and Hunter were dating or didn't really pay enough attention to them to know they were dating were Dustin, Blake, Cam, Leanne, Skyla, Shane, Conner, Ethan, and Trent. Kelly and Lily knew because they were the ones who used to watch Bentley when the two went out on dates. Kira picked up the signs and put two and two together. Maggie had told Tori when she was conflicted about some feelings she was having.

"Do you want me to be honest or to lie?" Maggie questioned.

"Depends on which one I'll like the answer to," Kelly frowned.

"A bit behind schedule, few minor problems that were easily fixed," Maggie shrugged. "And we are following your recommendations."

Kira looked at the girls she considered sisters. "There's something more, isn't there?"

"Spill it, Mags," Lily poked her sister. She hadn't gotten to see much of her family since she started school again as a student at Ocean Bluff University. She was studying business so she could open up her own dance studio someday. Kira was working on getting her music career settled, just like Maggie was still working on hers as Shadow. Both girls were working together on a few songs. Tori was working on opening her own surf shop near Storm Chargers. Most of the others were teaching at the academies or in college. Maggie and Leanne were working a few different jobs.

"Wait," Kelly looked to the orange ranger. "Are you hiding the fact that you and Hunter finally…"

"Ew!" Lily shrieked, shuddering as Kira did the same. The memory from the night that everyone had nightmares returned, and it was still disgusting to think about.

Kelly looked between the two and the frowning Maggie. "Am I missing something?"

"You're about two years behind on that, Kel," Kira muttered. Kelly turned to the woman across from her in shock.

"You already…and you never said…"

"Maybe," Maggie bit her lip, looking away. "But hey, you're probably not that innocent either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kelly gaped.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Come on, Kel. We all know that there's someone you're dating."

"Yeah, why hide it?" Kira agreed.

"I'm seriously considering moving," Kelly shook her head.

* * *

After the wedding, it was getting late. The two happy couples had left at the same time Maggie and Hunter were called back to Briarwood to help fight off Koragg. Now that the fights for the day were done and everything was back to normal, the rangers were safe and sound at home, relaxing and getting ready for the next day. Hunter and Maggie were curled up on the couch in their home, watching TV as Bentley was already asleep in his room down the hall.

Things were moving slow, as they usually did while there was active rangers currently saving the world. Maggie was thinking about a few things she had talked to the girls about at the wedding, and Hunter was dozing off already. It was a quiet night, and both ninjas were thankful for that. With everything they had going on, they needed a small break.

* * *

A/N: I didn't have the heart to write this chapter, but I am moving along with the story. Up next begins the journey for the Fire Heart, and then one of the rangers is turned into a vampire.


	7. Fire Heart

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 7: Fire Heart**

_A/N: Okay, so, I have more of an interest in writing this chapter than I did the last one, even though I don't particularly care for the fighting scenes. Maggie won't be involved in the fighting scenes with this chapter, but Hunter will be. Anyway, how will this chapter go when most of the rangers get lost in the woods, and what'll happen in general? What old characters appear?_

_I might have a few previews for random events I will have happen either later this story or in a few stories further down the line in this season. I won't name people in those parts, or describe them, but I will drop hints as to who they are (some might be OC you meet later down the line, such as Maggie's other kids when she has them; don't guess their names on those). _

_Those parts will be in italics._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Maggie found herself entering the Rock Porium with Bentley a week after her friends' wedding, hoping to pick up some supplies for her son's birthday party the next day. Vida and Maddie had picked up the things Maggie had asked them to, and now the orange ranger was coming into the music shop to pick up those things. Hunter was at the Thunder Academy, teaching for the day, which meant she had to cover everything.

As she walked in, Xander rolled to the back of the shop in a spinning chair. "All righty. Work the beat. Work the beat. Stocking doesn't have to be boring." He spun around and came face to face with a cardboard cutout that made him jump. The cutout stood in front of him as Toby moved out from behind it. "Oh, it's you, boss."

"Nice work Xander," Toby commented, noting how his other four employees were working efficiently. "I like the way you've got everyone working. You are a born leader." Maggie rolled her eyes at that.

"Hear that guys?" Xander smiled at his friends. "Born leader." He turned back to Toby. "Who's the old guy, boss?"

"Who's the old guy?" Toby repeated, feeling a bit offended. "Guys, Jake Bonebreaker, the man who put 'metal' in metal head, lead guitar and vocal of metal mega classic Harry Hatchet? Okay, your lesson – play it, like it. Class dismissed." He disappeared into his office, leaving the others alone.

Maggie stepped over to her sisters. "Where are the bags of things?"

"Here," Vida handed her the few plastic bags of decorations. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

"I might," the brunette sighed. "Nana Chilman has me working tomorrow morning, I have classes to teach later today and I gotta check on the store, and I'm on call tonight. I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get this set up in time for Bentley's party."

"We can help give you a day off," Maddie offered. "Let us watch Bentley. Go get things done that you need to."

"You sure?" Maggie asked. "What if you guys get called away to fight and me or Hunter aren't there to watch him? His daycare's closed this week."

Vida shrugged. "Then we'll either leave him with your sister, or worse come to worse, bring him to Rootcore. Udonna won't mind."

"Go run errands," Maddie urged. "Leave Bentley with us."

"Please mommy?" the nearly five year old looked up at his mother, with pleading eyes.

With a sigh, Maggie gave in. "Fine. But I'll be back later to pick him up." She gave her son a quick kiss on his forehead and left the shop, heading for her house to drop off the groceries and things she had just gotten.

* * *

"How's classes going?" Maggie asked her sister as she spoke to her on the phone. The brunette was tired and had decided to try and take a nap while her sisters were watching her son for the day. She knew that if they needed her, they would call, and same thing went for Hunter, though it would take him longer to get to wherever the rangers might be, should an issue arise. "Any cute boys you see yet?"

"_Maggie, I told you last week that I'm not looking to date anyone now," _Lily groaned. After her short relationship with her prom date Theo, she had decided to wait until she met someone who she could see herself in a longer relationship with. Her dating relationship with Theo hadn't gone very far, and both knew that the most they would ever be was siblings not related by blood. _"And classes are going fine."_

"So you're still coming down tomorrow?" Maggie yawned, wanting to fall asleep.

"_As long as you sleep," _Lily chuckled. _"I'm not gonna deal with you sleep deprived."_

"Whatever, Lils," Maggie rolled her eyes, hanging up the phone. Within minutes, she was sleeping soundly on the couch, oblivious to the outside world.

* * *

"_What's wrong with you?" a blonde asked, sitting beside a brunette on the bathroom floor. The brunette sat by the toilet, throwing up every few minutes. The blonde showed concern for her friend, wondering why the brunette wasn't with the others hanging out. "You've been in here for the past half hour. Something's wrong."_

"_I don't know," the brunette replied. "I've never been sick like this before. I don't even know what the hell is wrong with me, and I'm a freaking doctor!"_

"_Calm down," the blonde soothed."You'll figure it out. If not, I'm sure there's someone you can ask that might know."_

"_Like who?"_

* * *

_A familiar blonde stared at her masters stripes on her wrist as the same brunette appeared next to her. Both girls were outside, enjoying the night air. The two girls had drinks in their hands, both not saying a word as they got lost in their thoughts. "You don't want them to know, do you?" the brunette asked._

"_No," the blonde shook her head. "I don't want them to know, especially when I feel like I don't deserve the stripes just because I went down this road before."_

"_You know that's not why you got them," the brunette pointed out._

"_It feels that way sometimes," the blonde sighed. "I mean…I don't know."_

_The brunette placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It'll all work out in the end. It always does."_

"_Yeah, but for better or for worse?"_

* * *

"_Are you sure we'd be able to handle it?" the blonde man asked the brunette lying in the hospital bed. It had been an extremely long and hectic day, and all they wanted to do was rest and relax. Their kids were being watched by their aunts and uncles, and their newborn daughters were in the hospital nursery. "I mean, I have nothing wrong with it, but raising seven kids?"_

"_She doesn't deserve to go through the same things I did," the brunette explained. "And she's family. I have to do this for her."_

"_If you think we can handle it," the blonde nodded. "I don't want you to feel like it's too much."_

_The brunette glared at him. "It won't be too much to handle."_

* * *

_An older man in his mid twenties groaned as he was called inside his new home to speak on the phone with his mother. He knew it wasn't going to be good, especially when he and his sister were not following rules that had been set up by their mother. It was a dangerous time for them to follow their parents' legacy, but they had no choice…somewhat. "Hello?" he answered._

"_I told you that accepting it would be too dangerous!" his mother's voice shouted. "You know that now, not only does it put you three at further risk, but the rest of your team as well!"_

"_Mom, I can handle it," the man assured. "And they'll be just fine. You've taught us to survive on our own, and now we have to."_

"_This isn't exactly what I meant," his mother groaned. "Now that you've accepted the job, he's gonna know where to look for you. He'll come after you three first, to hurt me, and then he'll come after the rest of us."_

"_It'll all work out, mom," the man soothed._

_The woman on the other end scoffed. "You better not get too comfortable in case you have to drop everything and suddenly leave to be protected at a moment's notice."_

"_Trust me, mom, will you?" the man rolled his eyes. He knew his mother was overprotective, and she had a good reason to be, but he was a grown man with a family. He could take care of himself. "Just, look after my wife and son."_

"_Why would you think I would do otherwise?" he heard a slight – very slight – smirk in his mother's voice. "Now, put your cousin on the phone. I got some things to explain to her."_

* * *

"_Don't screw with my memory while you're gone," the older brunette growled at the teens before her, making sure they understood. They were about to time travel back to when she was still a teen and finishing up school, and she hated when things messed with her memory. It had happened quite a few times before. "Wear your masks."_

"_Come on mom," a younger girl, who could be the other brunette's twin if you didn't know any better, whined. "It was fine last time."_

"_Last time she had us hiding in our rooms," the blonde, who was a clone of his father, retorted. "We weren't even part of the team up last time."_

"_Before I get a headache, please just… do as I ask, for once?" the eldest brunette groaned. _

* * *

_A blonde dropped to the ground and landed on her feet, a yellow ranger suit covering her up. She frowned as she faced an old, beat up black car. Standing by it was a guy with light brown and wildly curly hair in a jacket. Next to him was a brooding man with darker, straighter brown hair wearing a black leather jacket and a black t-shirt. The girl's teammates joined her on the ground as she removed her helmet, focusing on the brunette girl with curly hair that flowed down mid back with her back to her._

_Carefully, she called out. "Lunchbox?"_

_The other girl turned around, a shocked and big smile lighting up her face. "Bottle!" the brunette ran toward the blonde at an alarming speed, nearly knocking her over when the two girls found themselves hugging each other. _

"_I…we all…mom and dad…everyone thought you were dead!" the blonde stuttered, holding her sister tight. It had been a year since they had last seen each other, and with the city closed off to anyone who wasn't a resident and came in from the wastes, they thought they would never see each other again. _

"_I thought I would never see you guys again!" the other girl countered. Both girls had tears streaming down their face, though neither was crying. _

_However, the moment was ruined when the military came in._

* * *

With Maggie sleeping and Bentley in the care of his girlfriend's sister for the afternoon, that meant Hunter had time to help his teammates out with finding what they had told him was the Fire Heart. Granted, all they had was a torn map to go by, but they were currently walking through the woods, following it, or rather, following Xander, who had taken Toby's words a bit too literally. The others knew that Maggie was resting from exhaustion, and they didn't mind that she wasn't with them for this.

"This isn't so bad," Chip commented.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Maddie sighed.

"Me either," Nick agreed.

Xander was in disagreement. "I am. I'll take the lead on this one. I know how to read maps pretty well."

"Are you sure?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"Like Toby said," the green ranger smirked. "I'm a born leader." Nick shrugged, handing the map in his hands to Xander to lead them. "Okay, team Xander, onward." However, only a few steps further into the forest, they began noticing bones on the ground, stuck there by plants growing over them.

"Oh, this is my kind of place," Chip grinned.

"Sure isn't mine," Maddie muttered. Strange noises began to fill the air. "Okay, what was that?"

"Just keep moving," Nick advised.

* * *

After a very long day for all the rangers aside from Maggie, most of the team could be found in the Rock Porium, finishing up the day's shift. Maggie and Hunter were at home, setting up for Bentley's birthday party the next day, with Penny's help. Hunter was regaling the two girls with the story of the day's battle and how they were sent to find the Fire Heart, but had no success in actually finding it. Maggie and Penny were laughing at the image of Xander leading them wrong, causing most of their misfortunes.

"Phineas?" Maggie frowned as they reached that part in the story. Unlike the other rangers, she had yet to hear or meet him. "Who's that?"

"Some weird goblin, troll looking thing," the blonde shrugged, blowing up another balloon. "Helped us find our way around after Xander got us stuck. Odd little creature."

"How so?" Penny wondered, helping her sister hang streamers. They were thankful Bentley was already fast asleep upstairs.

"Just…generally odd," Hunter answered. "How was your day off, Maggie?"

Maggie smiled. "Caught up on much needed sleep. Had these really weird dreams though, almost as if they were trying to tell me something."

"Can't dreams tell you a lot about yourself?" Penny asked, curious. She recalled hearing something about that before. "Wasn't that how Shane found Skyla?"

"Yeah," the brunette nodded. "Though it was as if these ones were trying to show me the future. I saw a bunch of people I had no idea who they were, even though they seemed familiar in some sense. Like they resembled someone. I also saw Bentley as a grown up, and I think I was yelling at him for doing something dangerous and stupid."

"Maybe you did see parts of your future," Hunter suggested.

"You were there too, in one of them," Maggie realized. "I was talking to you about being able to handle something, but I wasn't sure what exactly we were talking about."

"It'll come to you," the blonde assured, knowing that they would eventually find out.

* * *

A/N: Well, I was starting this chapter last night when I was tired (reason why it's crappy) and I just didn't have the heart to write most of the battle. Anyway, an old character returns in the next chapter. Who will it be?


	8. Stranger Within Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 8: Stranger Within**

**Part I**

_A/N: Rangers turning into vampires…fun, right? An idea came to me as I was watching this, and I thought that maybe, with the help of an old friend(I mean showing up in the story to help Maggie), I can turn more than just one ranger into a vampire a and see where that goes. So, what if it wasn't just Vida who got turned into a vampire, and it wasn't just Chip who helped the others figure it out? I really can't wait to see how this episode comes out. _

_Please vote in the poll on my profile!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Night was upon the city of Briarwood, and things were being rushed around a bit. All the rangers, aside from Chip and Maddie, were at the Rock Porium. Maggie was there waiting for her friend to show up because he was coming to town for a few days, hoping to learn a bit about magic. She had gotten special permission from Udonna to help him further his abilities in earth, and she was hoping her friend could pick up a few things. Hunter was away on a sensei retreat Leanne's father had sent him on, and it kept him away for most of the week so far. Vida was behind the counter, talking with her sister.

Nick moved to lock the door to the shop just as Leelee shoved her way through. "Sorry Leelee, we're closing."

"Perfect," the blonde grinned, paper in her hand. "That means you have no excuses for not taking me to see this great new DJ tonight."

"No can do," Nick denied. "I already have plans."

"Please?" the blonde begged. Maggie rolled her eyes as Xander walked toward them.

"Don't waste your time throwing yourself at him, Lee," he smiled. "Throw yourself at me."

She hesitated for a moment. "Okay, you can come with me."

"He can't go either," Nick called from the back. "He's the one I have plans with." Vida walked out from behind the counter and grabbed the flyer.

"DJ Fly," she read. "Never heard of him. Any good?"

"He's just, like, the hottest new DJ around," Leelee explained. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of him."

"I better check this guy out," the pink ranger mused.

"Great," Leelee grinned. "You can go with me." Maggie got an uneasy feeling about where this was headed and decided to step in.

Before she could, Nick spoke up once more. "Vida has plans, too."

"But there's a new talent in town," Vida whined. "Our plans can wait till tomorrow."

"No they can't," Nick corrected. "You gave your word that you'd help, V. Thanks for the invite, Leelee." He locked her out of the shop. "We have half the Fire Heart scroll to figure out. Chip and Madison are waiting at Rootcore. Remember?"

"Since when did you become Nick, the good witch of Briarwood?" Xander huffed.

Maggie rolled her eyes, speaking up. "I think you three should go check out the new DJ."

"You're kidding, right?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "Did you not…"

"There's something not right with Leelee," Maggie continued. "I just…there's something about her that seems off. If you three go and try to figure out what she's possibly hiding, then it could help us a bit more than finding the Fire Heart."

"How so?" Xander wondered.

"Let's just say the last time I got a feeling someone was hiding something," Maggie bit her lip. "I ended up gaining three new family members by blood, and one of them was the one trying to destroy the world at the time."

"When did this happen?" Vida frowned, not remembering this.

Maggie looked at her sister. "Sometime between the court date and when I had the court mandated visit to spend the week here."

"Court date?" Nick questioned.

"Mandatory visit?" Xander added.

"Look, guys," Maggie groaned. "Just trust me on this. Leelee is hiding something, and if you can manage to figure out what, then it could possibly help us in the fight against the darkness. And don't worry about Chip and Maddie. They still got me to help them."

Nick sighed. "If you're sure."

* * *

"So how exactly do we get to this Rootcore place?" Dustin frowned as he stood outside the park across from the Rock Porium and the new Storm Chargers by the big tree. He had shown up a few minutes before, eager to learn about the magical realm and hopefully discover his earth powers a bit more. He was going to spend a few days in Briarwood, hoping to learn. "Where do we enter the woods?"

"Come on," Maggie grinned, taking his hand. "This way." She placed her other hand on the tree, picturing Rootcore in her head. Dustin felt himself being pulled as they vanished into the tree and reappeared in the forest. He blinked a few times, making sure his head was on right. "Lesson number one – trees are your passage. Place your hand on a tree and picture where you want to go, and you'll be there, as long as there's a tree on the other end."

Dustin gave her an odd look. "What?"

"It's like the waterfall at the academy," Maggie sighed. "Except you can, in a sense, teleport using the trees."

"So where's Rootcore?" Dustin asked once more. Maggie led him on a path through the woods that she knew led to the tree base. They stopped once they came across the giant dragon head made out of roots, and Dustin's eyes widened. "Dude…"

* * *

After giving him the grand tour of Rootcore, and after getting settled in there the next day, Maggie, Maddie, Chip, and Dustin found themselves looking through some magic books. Maggie was helping Dustin understand the language they were in. There was still no sign of Vida, Nick, or Xander, and they were starting to get a bit worried. Maggie had left her son at the daycare he was signed up for. It was already night time again.

"So, what exactly is the Fire Heart?" Dustin wondered, now having been caught up on everything. "And how come we never got capes?" he added, noting how their uniforms had capes.

"Dustin, would a ninja uniform really work with a cape?" Maggie gave him a pointed look. "And we're not sure what exactly the Fire Heart is, but that's what we're trying to figure out. Hey, where'd Udonna go?"

"Last time I saw Udonna, she was teaching Clare another invisibility spell," Maddie answered.

"Which could be the problem right there," Chip smirked. Maggie and Maddie chuckled, understanding, as Dustin was slightly confused. After all, he had never met the young sorceress. At that moment, the door opened and Vida walked in, alone.

"Yo, crew," she greeted. She sauntered over to her spot at the table and took a seat. "Sorry I'm late."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "Late? We haven't seen you, Nick, or Xander since yesterday. Did something happen at the club?"

"Relax," Vida spoke. "Nothing happened at the club. And we couldn't find anything suspicious with Leelee."

"I was worried about you," Maddie told her sister. Sure Maggie had told them what her idea was, but when none of the three showed up earlier, they began to worry.

Vida stood. "Look. I'm sorry. I gave my word to help today and I blew it. It won't happen again."

"Hey, no problem V," Chip replied, a bit unsure. "We all make mistakes."

"So, what happened to Nick and Xander?" Maddie questioned, hoping to get an answer.

"They're locking up for Toby," the pink ranger stated. All of a sudden, the crystal ball went off, indicating trouble in the woods.

* * *

"Dude, these things are seriously messed up!" Dustin commented as he spotted the hidiacs. Like the others were in their mystic uniforms, he was in his ninja uniform, ready to help them. Nick and Xander had joined up with them on their way to the forest, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the boys. "What are they, anyway?"

"Hidiacs," Maggie sighed. "All right. Let's ranger up."

"No need," Vida smirked, charging the foot soldiers and taking them down with ease. No one noticed the looks Nick and Xander shared, too shocked by what they were seeing. This wasn't their pink ranger and it wasn't the Vida they knew. Despite what she had said, they couldn't help but think something had happened to her at the club. This led them to think that if something happened to her, the same thing must've happened to Nick and Xander as well, even if they were acting normal.

"This catching up on your sleep thing seems to be paying off for her," Xander spoke, making it seem as if nothing was wrong.

"I've never seen her like this before," Maddie grinned in awe.

Chip was beyond shocked. "Neither have I. That was just weird." Using her tornado power, Vida managed to take down the hidiacs. The other rangers gathered around her.

"Very impressive," Koragg's voice drew their attention to him. Dustin was not liking the new enemy as they all fell defensive. "Now how about a real challenge?" He floated into the air, transforming into his megazord sized self.

"Whoa!" Dustin gasped. "Since when can the bad guys do that?" Out of nowhere, more hidiacs appeared.

"Guys, think you can handle this on your own?" Maggie asked. The five nodded and took off into their zords, ready to fight Koragg. "Ready to fight these things? Careful. They're a bit tougher than Kelzaks were."

"Got it," the older brunette nodded as the two set off fighting. They weren't paying any attention to the zord fight or the rising sun. Maggie was shouting to Dustin a few things about the hidiacs and villains they were currently facing as both used their ninja powers to help take them down. Dustin called upon his powers of earth to knock the hidiacs away as Maggie used her fire powers to burn them. When they finally finished, they heard three bodies hit the ground, hard. The two ninjas turned to see Nick, Xander, and Vida practically passed out on the ground as the sun began rising higher. Koragg vanished as Chip and Maddie joined them on the ground.

"Are you guys okay?" Maggie tried helping them up. Something was definitely going on.

There was no response.

* * *

A little later in the morning, Maggie found herself glaring at Leelee in the Rock Porium. Having discovered her hatred for the blonde, Dustin stood nearby behind his friend, just in case she started to lash out. He knew it was rare she lost her temper, and as far as he knew, the last time she did lose it wasn't pretty and it was in the final battle against Mesogog after learning he kidnapped her son. Now, he was monitoring the discussion she was having with the blonde.

"What happened to Vida and they guys the other night at the club?" Maggie demanded. "They've been acting a little strange since then."

"They were acting kind of strange at the club," Leelee stated as if it should've been obvious. "They were like, nice to me, even talking to me."

"It's called being polite," Maggie snorted. "This is important, Leelee."

"I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with them," Leelee replied, looking serious. "But I couldn't stay. My mom called and I had to leave. They were fine when I left."

Maggie narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to believe that."

"Anyway," Leelee rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Hunter? I have something I want to ask him."

"Why do you want to know where my boyfriend is?" Maggie snarled, not caring if Dustin overheard her. "What's he got to do with you?"

"Please," the blonde scoffed. "He could do so much better than you. Why don't you go spend time with your other boyfriend?"

Maggie frowned. "Other boyfriend? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know," Leelee spat. "Isn't that why you sent Hunter away? So you could spend time with your other boyfriend and not have Hunter worry about it? Why don't you just go s…"

"You little bitch!" the fire ninja screeched before lunging at the blonde, catching on rather quickly to what she was about to say. Dustin, even though he had been barely paying attention, knew this wasn't going to end well unless he stopped it. He sighed, wrapping his arms around Maggie's waist and pulling her back to keep her from slaughtering Leelee. However, he was proving not to be as strong as he thought as she was nearly ripping his arms off, trying to break free. Leelee was smirking now that Maggie couldn't get to her. "Let me go Dustin!"

Maggie managed to break free of his grasp and lunged for Leelee again, just before Maddie walked in and dashed over, putting herself between the two girls.

"What's going…whoa," she stopped mid sentence, noticing the highly deadly look in her older sister's eyes. She had never seen anyone, not even Vida, with that look before in her eyes. "Maggie…what's going on?"

"All I did was ask an innocent question and she started getting all mad," Leelee explained innocently.

"That's a lie!" Maggie growled, trying to get past her sister. However, Maddie standing in the middle was working.

Maddie gave a sympathetic look to the blonde behind her. "I think you should leave." Leelee rolled her eyes and shrugged before walking out, smirking to herself. Maddie turned to her sister. "Maggie, calm down. No killing innocent people."

Maggie ignored her and walked away. Dustin looked to the blue ranger. "Want in on the new betting pool?"

"Betting pool?" Maddie frowned.

"Maggie's showing signs of having a nervous breakdown. She's already snapped in anger and has been angry, and she's been a bit sleep deprived. The only sign she has left to show before she loses it again is uncontrollable sobbing over something. We made a complicated bet about her first one, and now we're making a simpler bet about what month she'll have her second one in."

* * *

"_What happened?" _Leanne asked as she spoke on the phone with Maggie. She had called the brunette to ask about something, but that was going to be put on hold now that she heard the deadly tone in her sister's voice when Maggie answered the phone. _"What's with the get-out-of-my-way-before-I-hurt-you voice you're using?"_

"I can't believe that little bitch said that," Maggie growled, barely realizing she was talking on the phone.

"_Whoa, slow down," _Leanne demanded. _"Who said what now?"_

"Leelee," Maggie spat.

"_Oh," _Leanne smartly replied, realizing where this was going. Because they saw each other every day, aside from days they had off, Leanne had come to learn that Maggie and Hunter were rangers yet again (leading her to believe that something would develop between the two), and she had also discovered the brunette's hatred for Leelee. _"I see."_

Maggie took a deep breath to calm herself so she could explain. "V, Nick, and Xander went to check out a club with her last night because I asked them to so they could find out if there was something major Leelee was hiding. They said nothing was wrong, but the three are changing, and not for the better. I tried talking to Leelee to see if she knew what happened, and, well…"

"_You got pissed at her answers?" _Leanne guessed.

"Kinda," Maggie bit her lip. "I doubted her story, she asked where Hunter was, I told her it was none of her business, she thought _Dustin _was my boyfriend, made a couple implications that I was, well...hey, are you laughing?"

"_Sorry," _Leanne slowly ceased her chuckling. _"I'm just picturing how this all went, and when you said she thought Dustin was your boyfriend…oh god."_

"Glad you find it funny," Maggie grumbled. "But she implied that I was…"

"_A slut?" _the red head finished.

Maggie sighed. "Yeah. And I just lost it. I mean, she doesn't know the first thing about me, and she has the nerve to imply that I'm one!"

"_Just ignore her, Mags," _Leanne advised. _"She'll get what's coming to her, eventually. Just, calm down for now. Focus on Vida, Nick, and Xander and figuring out what's wrong."_

"Alright, Lena," Maggie agreed. "Hey, have you heard anything from Hunter?"

Before she got an answer, the line went dead.

* * *

After taking her friend's advice and calming down a bit, Maggie found herself at Rootcore, showing Dustin a few new things. Dustin had heard every piece of the conversation earlier, but considering she still seemed a bit tense, he didn't want to bring it up. Chip and Maddie were there as well as Nick and Xander, and the two boys looked paler than they did earlier. "Good morning Rootcore," Vida smiled as she walked in, looking as pale as Xander and Nick.

"Hey sis," Maddie grabbed her camera. "You're feeling better."

"I'm feeling great," she grinned. "Slept like a baby. Let's rock and roll!"

"You slept like a log," Maggie pointed out. "Twenty two hours worth."

Maddie pointed the camera at her sister. "Hey, V, say a few words to your fans."

"All right," the pink ranger smirked. "I'll show you a new pose that came to me in a dream." She suddenly struck the pose. Maddie shut off her camera as Chip held something behind his back.

"After such a long nap, you must be very thirsty, V," he spoke. He handed her a glass with a reddish liquid in it, confusing everyone. Vida took it and stared at in amazed before taking a sip. As soon as she did, she spit it out.

"Yuck!" she whined. "It's tomato juice."

"Aw, what?" Chip took the cup back and set it on the table. "Did you think it was blood?"

"Pardon me?" Maggie raised an eyebrow as they all gathered around. Xander and Nick stood by Vida, Maggie and Dustin on her other side while Chip and Maddie closed the circle.

Chip explained his reasoning. "I am a card carrying member of C.O.U.N.T. V."

"Containment of Underworld Nocturnal Transylvanian Vampires Club," Dustin furthered the explanation as he and Chip both held up their cards.

"Only you two would be in that," Maggie shook her head.

"I, my friends, have found myself a few vampires," the red head finished. He had noticed the weird behavior of the pink, red, and green rangers and put together the signs.

Maddie raised an eyebrow. "These three are vampires?"

"Pale skin…"

"Sensitivity to light…"

"Sleeping all day…"

"Thirst for blood…" Chip and Dustin listed the signs. Maggie and Maddie shared looks. "Textbook vampire signs." The other two girls began laughing. Vida, Nick, and Xander joining in a bit hesitantly. Chip and Dustin shared offended looks. Maggie knew that her brother in every way but blood was into this sort of thing, and she knew that anything was possible with being a ranger, but to her, one of them turning into a vampire was just ridiculous.

Maggie turned to her youngest sister in the room. "Come on, Maddie. I promised Bentley you would come with me to pick him up today. Anyone else wanna come?"

"We'll meet with you guys later," Xander called as the two girls walked away.

"We gotta grab a bite before we go," Nick added, making the two girls laugh. Dustin decided to stick around with Chip, both boys sticking with their theory.

"Okay," Chip huffed. "Maybe we're wrong. I'll stay here and go with them."

He and Dustin were about to talk, but Vida interrupted. "By the way, guys, you were right. We are vampires." All three infected rangers turned around, hissing and eyes flashing red. They lunged for the two boys. Had it not been for the garlic cloves the yellows held up, they would've been dead.

* * *

The next day, Dustin was trying to explain to Maggie and Maddie that he and Chip were right about the other three being vampires. Chip had gone with Vida, Nick, and Xander to try and figure out what exactly turned them into vampires. Maggie had left Bentley in her sister's care for the day, worried that something happened to Hunter because he hadn't returned yet, like he was supposed to the previous day. "Guys?" Maddie called as the three entered Rootcore.

"You're out here awfully late," Udonna commented, bringing their attention to her. "What is going on?"

"Chip, V, Nick, and Xander didn't show for work," Maddie replied. "We think there may be a problem with them."

"They seemed all right the last time you saw them?" she questioned.

Maggie bit her lip. "Not exactly," she sighed. "V, Nick, and Xander have been acting very strange. And, well, Chip and Dustin thought that they might be…well, vampires."

"Well," Udonna spoke clearly. "There are many things in the woods that seem unbelievable. But I assure you, they do exist."

"And we don't doubt that," Maddie nodded. "We just find it hard to imagine them as vampires."

"What about that video you got of Vida?" Dustin suggested. "Vampires don't have reflections, and they won't show up on tape." The blue ranger grabbed her camera and played the tape on the screen. Words could be heard, but no person was seen.

"Okay, that's weird," she frowned. "She was dead center frame when I took this, and now she's not there."

"They were right," Udonna realized. "She is a vampire, and if Nick and Xander are showing the same signs, then it is safe to assume that they are as well. Find them, rangers. They need your help."

"Let's go," Maggie nodded.

* * *

It was finally the end of the day, and the group of rangers, current and former, were hanging out in Rootcore. Maggie was holding onto her son's hands as she stood with Chip and Dustin, wondering where Hunter was. Leelee and Vida were dancing to music nearby, Nick and Xander standing close and watching them. Maddie was on the phone in the Rock Porium, speaking with someone on the other end. The rangers were enjoying some relaxation after taking down Flytrap.

"Hey, Maggie," Chip grinned as he began speaking, a giant briefcase sitting near them. "So, now that you know vampires do exist, how about joining the COUNT V club?"

"Not interested," Maggie sighed.

"Wait," Chip stopped her. "Before you make a hasty decision, let me show you what your two hundred bucks gets you."

"Where do you think I'll get the two hundred bucks?" Maggie demanded.

"Dude, you're loaded between the jobs you do," Dustin pointed out.

Maggie shook her head. "No, my grandparents are loaded. Half the money I make between all my jobs go toward paying taxes and buying the necessities I need to live and support Bentley, and I put some money toward Lily, Penny, Roger, and Ron's college funds, even if their grandparents are doing most of it. I don't have as much personal spending money as you think."

Unbeknownst to the three, Bentley reached into the briefcase Chip had opened and found a big blue piece of chalk. He moved toward his dancing aunt and began drawing a circle around her, Nick, and Xander, Leelee scoffing and jumping out of the way. When he finished, he grinned and ran back over to his mother.

"Mommy, look what I draw!" he pointed. Maggie took the piece of chalk and handed it to Chip as she spotted the circle around the three.

"What does that do?"

"Its vampire chalk," Chip stated.

"Draw a circle around a vampire and they can't cross the line," Dustin explained.

Maddie looked over to her sister. "Hey V, we got any Coltrane on CD?"

"Let me check," Vida replied. She made to move out of the circle, only to be tossed back a bit by the shield. Nick and Xander tried the same thing, getting the same result. The three tried leaving the giant circle again, only to have their eyes glow red and bare fangs. Maggie shielded her son's eyes so he wouldn't have to see this as the other rangers got a bad feeling in the pit of their stomach.

Their problem had just gotten worse.

* * *

A/N: How many of you saw Dustin entering this chapter? I thought it'd be cool to add him. Also, the argument between Leelee and Maggie was going to happen at some point, and I decided to make it now. Anyway, what'll happen next? Don't worry, Hunter will reappear in Petrified Xander.


	9. Stranger Within Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 9: Stranger Within**

**Part II**

_A/N: Last time, Dustin showed up for a few days, and now that he and Chip discovered that Nick, Vida, and Xander were turned into vampires, he's sticking around until the end of this chapter. Hunter will be mentioned but not actually in this until Petrified Xander. Anyway, what'll happen now that they know Vida, Nick, and Xander are still vampires? _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

All the rangers aside from Hunter were in Rootcore. Hunter had yet to return from the supposed Sensei retreat thing Leanne's dad had sent him on, and Maggie was becoming nervous. She had left Bentley with her sister, not wanting him to be scared by the sight of Vida, Nick, and Xander as vampires. After getting the three back to Rootcore, they were encased in a circle yet again, leaving Maggie, Maddie, Chip, and Dustin to discuss this issue.

"Guys," Vida whined from where she, Nick, and Xander were trapped in a giant circle of vampire chalk. "I know you think you need to do this, but we're all right. Please, let us out."

"We're gonna help you, V," Chip assured the pink ranger, causing Maddie and Maggie to share a knowing look. "I promise."

Clare bit her lip as she approached the others outside the circle. "Maybe you should let them out."

Vida, Nick, and Xander flashed their fangs as their eyes turned red and they tried charging only to be held back by the shield around them.

"Or not!" Clare jumped back.

"If Flytrap was destroyed, they should be fine," Maddie frowned as she, Dustin, Chip, and Maggie moved away from the others. "She must be under the spell of another vampire."

"What if it's that bat lady?" Dustin pointed out. He didn't really pay attention to her name since he never actually fought her.

"Koragg would know that," Chip pointed out.

Maggie sighed. "Except how do we contact him? Sure Nick's got that mind thingy, but where his mind is clouded with the current issue, it's not going to be any help."

"Huh?" the two yellows in the room frowned.

"What I mean is," Maggie explained. "Because Nick's a vampire, his mind is clouded with that spell, preventing him from using the mind link thingy with Koragg."

"Oh."

"So how do we fix this?" Maddie looked at the three.

"While you try to fix this, there is something I need to do," Udonna stated, walking by them before leaving Rootcore.

Maggie had an idea. "Come on Maddie. Dustin and Chip can watch them three while we go find a solution to this."

"Why us?" Dustin called after his sister. "We know more about vampires than you."

"Exactly," Maggie grinned, leaving the two boys confused as she dragged her sister out.

Chip looked at the other male yellow. "What was that about?"

"I've known her since we were ten and I have yet to figure it out."

* * *

"Where are we?" Maddie wondered as she looked around the new town. Maggie hadn't really planned on looking for a solution to their current problem. Well, she had a small idea to, but she wasn't going to put that into action until later. She had taken her younger sister to a town roughly thirty minutes away, planning to stay close to Briarwood.

"We're in Blue Bay Harbor," the brunette shrugged as they walked around the streets.

"Why are we here?" the blue ranger continued.

Maggie shrugged. "A couple of different reasons. I need to ask a couple of my old teammates if they're willing to suit up in case we need help. I also gotta check in at the hospital on a couple patients of mine, and then try to figure out what happened to Hunter."

"Okay," Maddie blinked. "So where are we headed?"

"Here," Maggie led her into the brightly colored sports shop that was all too familiar to her. She only spotted Kelly behind the counter, filling out paperwork. No one else was in the store, and that was saying a lot. Usually the ninjas would be hanging around here if they had no classes to teach. "Hey, Kel."

"Maggie," the red head looked up. "How's the store coming along?"

"Could use Hunter's help, but it's going great," the brunette replied. "This is Maddie, one of my half sisters. Maddie, this is Kelly, and old friend of mine and my boss."

Kelly glared at the younger girl. "Old? I am not old."

"Let's see," Maggie counted in her head. "If I'm twenty one, that makes you twenty five, meaning you are older than me."

"What's this visit for?" Kelly sighed.

"I'm trying to find the others so they could help with something," Maggie replied. "Have you seen them?"

The red head raised an eyebrow. "They're all across the country furthering their knowledge in their elements. Hunter and Leanne went across the country, Blake's still racing, Dustin's with you in Briarwood because you're helping him, Tori's somewhere near the coast on the other side of the country, and Shane's…well, I forget where exactly Shane said he was going."

"She knows?" Maddie asked her sister, causing Maggie to nod.

"Has since long before 2003," she added.

"I take it finding the others isn't the only reason you're here?" Kelly remarked.

Maggie bit her lip. "I'm afraid that if I run into Leelee, I may rip her head off."

"Does this have to do with the fight you got into yesterday?" Maddie recalled, having been the one to break it up.

"Fight?" Kelly perked up. "You got into an actual fight against another person while not on duty?"

Maggie groaned, knowing she'd have to share now.

* * *

"What if we find the bat lady?" Dustin wondered as he and Chip stood around the table in Rootcore, flipping through books of vampires. Nick, Vida, and Xander had tried tricking them into letting the three out of the circle earlier, and had it not been for small details, they would've been fooled. They hadn't seen Maggie or Maddie since the two had left earlier, but they knew the two girls would return. "How do you destroy her?"

"One of these books has to have a chapter on destroying vampires," the red head bit his lip, thinking.

"Chapter thirteen," Dustin realized, grabbing the "How to Spot a Vampire" book. "The old stake in the heart scenario. Unless we're dealing with the queen of vampires."

"What does it say about destroying them?" Nick called from where the three were.

Chip and Dustin gave him hopeless looks. "It says you can't."

"Well, that's encouraging," Xander scoffed.

"Guys, just check the Xenotome," Vida advised. Chip realized what she was saying and headed over to the giant book, Dustin following.

Chip stared at the blank page. "Xenotome, how do we destroy the queen of vampires?" A bunch of unfamiliar writing to Dustin shone on the page as it came to life. "Dawn Crystal. That must be the only way to find Necrolai. It says how to make one, but it takes time. And ingredients…I don't know if we can get."

"You can't," Udonna spoke, alerting them to her presence as she set down a basket of items on a table. "But I did. We must hurry. There is not much time. We must make the crystal before…"

"Before what?" Dustin frowned. "Before it's too late?"

"Make no mistake," Udonna warned. "We are in danger of losing three of our own."

* * *

Maggie found herself in the new Storm Chargers while the others were out fighting, trying to save Vida and Nick and Xander. She wasn't out fighting because she had decided to refrain from the fight. She knew she should be out there helping Chip and Maddie take on Necrolai, but she felt something holding her back. She couldn't explain what or even why, but she just…couldn't fight. Bentley was sitting on the floor, playing with a few of his toys that Maggie ad brought for him.

After their visit with Kelly, Maggie and Maddie found their way back to Briarwood and Rootcore, finding Chip finishing up the Dawn Crystal. He and Dustin said that it was supposed to destroy Necrolai and release the spell Nick, Vida, and Xander were under. Dustin had left as soon as it was made, having to get back to teaching at the academy. Hunter hadn't returned yet, and Maggie knew that there was still at least a week in the retreat and considering Kelly told her he was across the country, she knew that it would take time to travel.

She sighed, turning on the radio just loud enough to fill the room. She sat down on the floor next to Bentley, who wasn't going to break the silence and wreck his mother's train of thought. He had learned that the almost blank look on her face meant she was thinking deeply about something, and it was better in the long run if she wasn't interrupted while she looked like that.

Instead, the five year old stood and ran over to the bathroom, filling a cup of water from the sink and bringing it to his mother. Maggie wasn't so deep in thought that she didn't notice this. She sat him down on her lap and sipped at the water, thanking him.

Maggie looked down at her son, who was a happy child. She wanted his life to be normal, but she knew that the minute she accepted the morpher back on her first team that she was putting people she loved in danger, especially her son. However, she also didn't feel safe knowing that if he was anywhere but with her, it would make him an easier target to get to. After all, Lothor and Mesogog had both tried kidnapping him to draw her out, but they foiled their plans every time. She was beginning to wonder if any of the current villains were going to try the same thing.

Aside from those two instances Maggie thought Bentley would never remember, the young boy had had a good life so far. Sure he was only five, but at that age, you had nothing to worry about aside from starting school in the fall. Maggie barely remembered most of her childhood because she didn't want to, but she knew that she couldn't completely get rid of most of her childhood memories because she would need them to explain to Bentley who is father really is when he becomes old enough to understand.

The brunette kissed the top of her son's forehead.

Why did children seem to have the most simple and normal life?

* * *

A/N: I don't know where the last section came from at all. I just didn't feel like writing in the major fight scene, but I just didn't want to leave off with Udonna getting the supplies for the crystal. Either way, I think it kind of works. Sorta. Anyway, up next Hunter returns and they go searching for the Fire Heart once more.

Please vote in the poll on my profile!


	10. Petrified Xander

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 10: Petrified Xander**

_A/N: Well, here's where they actually find and discover what the fire heart really is. Exciting, right? Hunter is in this chapter and things are back to normal. I have a nervous breakdown (well, almost) planned for Maggie in this story. Not sure how the hell this chapter will turn out, but I'll try my best. I have an idea for the next couple chapters involving Maggie's family, but I will explain more about that later on. _

_I may have an old character or two appear._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Nearly a week later, Maggie found herself inside the Rock Porium, talking with her sister. Bentley was with them, running around the shop and the two girls keeping an eye on him. Hunter was next door working on the construction of Storm Chargers, considering it was mainly his job. Maggie was supposed to be helping him, but with her other few jobs, she barely had time to. Xander and Chip were also there, Maddie and Nick nowhere in sight. "Hey Chip," Vida called as the yellow ranger approached, reading the Fire Heart map. "Any luck with you-know-what?"

"No," he grumbled.

Vida plopped a stack of cash on the counter. "Ha! I have outsold you by twelve dollars and fifty cents. I win the bet, you owe me lunch."

"Not so fast," Xander scoffed from where he was restacking CDs. "Xander the great still has four minutes to go."

"'Xander the Great'?" Maggie raised an eyebrow. "And what, exactly, are you so great at? Failing to pick up women?" Vida laughed and high fived her sister as Chip snickered a bit and Xander rolled his eyes. He had gotten used to the idea that Maggie was like a combination of both her sisters, more so like Vida. Leelee chose that moment to walk into the store. "Look what the cat dragged in…unfortunately."

Leelee glared at the brunette. Since their little spat a week ago, neither had been on very good speaking terms, and the others knew it. They tried keeping the two apart from each other as much as possible, knowing that Maggie could easily rip the blonde's head off. "Can somebody help me here?"

"Afternoon Leelee," Xander turned around. "You look like a Zeppelin fan. Can I interest you in something?"

"Dude, what's with the giant zit?" Maggie cut the blonde off, noticing the reddish bump on Xander's nose and taking up most of it. Leelee snorted and walked away, not wanting to deal with anything. Xander's eyes widened as he grabbed a nearby desk mirror and looked into it. The two girls and Chip laughed at his expression, finding it rather amusing.

"Mommy," Bentley came over and looked up. "Why does Xander look like Rudolph?" Vida and Maggie continued laughing and Chip smirked.

"Oh, Xander the Great Big Pimple," Vida mocked.

Xander looked rather worried. "Oh, it totally ruins my perfect profile! This zit is like having an extra nose."

"That's it!" Chip realized, startling the other three. "Maybe the scroll to the Fire Heart is like two halves of the same face, minus the zit, of course."

"Yes!" they heard Toby shout from his office as the blinds went up. "Success!" he barged out and faced the four rangers. "I finished this entire crypto magnetic puzzle in just under forty minutes. I should work for the CIA or the FBI. Or better still, the power rangers." Maggie bit her lip to keep from laughing. Here Toby was imagining working for the power rangers while the actual power rangers were working for him. Toby walked back into his office, shutting the blinds and door once more.

* * *

"Yeah, and then it hit me," Chip explained to the others as the team of rangers walked into Rootcore. Maggie had left Bentley with her sister while she helped with the ranger duties. "The mirror was the key. So while Xander was staring at himself, and I was staring at Xander, the answer was staring at me." He ran over and grabbed the mirror the green ranger was using, bringing it over to the others. He held the map up to it, showing a reflection and the other half of the map. "What mountain does that look like?"

"Mount Fuego!" the others chorused, recognizing it.

From over by her plant, Clare gasped, seeing the bundle of roses spring to life. "Look! It's working! I finally did something right!"

"What did you do?" Xander asked.

"It's a potion I concocted," the blonde explained. "To make sad, dull looking flowers become perfectly gorgeous."

"It's a perfection potion," Xander concluded, seeming interested as the blonde walked away. His mind began working as he realized it could possibly get rid of his zit.

With the others, Nick made the decision it was time to go. "All right, let's go. Fire Heart is waiting. We'll have to split up to cover that much territory."

* * *

After splitting up into three groups, the rangers found themselves searching every inch of the forest the map led them through. Vida and Xander went off one way as Nick, Maddie, and Chip took another direction. That left Maggie and Hunter to take a third path, through the center of the woods. They had all been searching for quite a while now, and so far no one had found anything. The crimson and orange rangers were walking around hand in hand, not really doing as much searching as they should be doing.

"So what's this I hear about you being jealous?" Hunter asked, starting up a conversation. He had heard of his girlfriend's fight with Leelee over something the blonde had said, and he was curious as to what really happened.

"Jealous? Me?" Maggie raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "When did I get jealous? I don't get jealous."

"According to Dustin and Maddie you did," Hunter continued. "They said that they had to hold you back from hurting Leelee. So…what happened?"

Maggie growled. "She's a bitch. I swear that she's hiding something big."

"What did she do to warrant being called a bitch?" the crimson ranger wondered. He knew Maggie didn't get along with everyone she met, but in her book, it took certain things to cause her to make you think you were a bitch or someone she could confide in. Given what he knew of her past, Hunter understood, but he wanted to know why.

"Flirting with you when she clearly knows you're mine," Maggie listed. "Believing that you're only with me because of Bentley, thinking that I was cheating on you with _Dustin _of all people, and she implied that…well, she implied some things that I do not wish to discuss because it'll just make me angry again."

"Why does she think I'm only with you because of Bentley?" Hunter frowned.

Maggie sighed. "She thinks he's biologically yours. We both know that you're not, and we both know that he looks to you as a father and I have no problems if you feel like a father to him. She thinks that you don't really love me and the only reason you're still with me is because of Bentley."

"You know that's not true," Hunter stopped walking, turning to her and causing her to do the same. "I'm with you because I love you. I love Bentley like he is my own son. I don't plan on ever leaving you for anyone else, especially Leelee, and I don't plan on leaving you at all unless you want me to."

Instead of replying, she pulled him in for a kiss, which he was glad to comply to.

* * *

After getting a call from Vida and Xander, the rangers all met up in the middle of an open field, Hunter and Maggie being the last two to arrive. No one but Vida and Maddie seemed to notice how the two looked a bit frazzled, but they weren't going to push the matter at the moment. In the circle of rangers rested a giant chest with an intricate pattern on it. Chip and Vida tried opening it only to have no luck.

"Look at this," Maddie got their attention. She pulled off a scroll and a clock on the chest began counting down.

"'This ancient puzzle is your task at hand,'" Chip read from the scroll. "'Solve it quickly to receive what's grand. But if you fail this timely chore, the Fire Heart will be no more.' Great. Another riddle."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Maggie wondered as her and Hunter picked up the box with ease. "The sooner we get this back to Rootcore, the sooner we can get it open."

* * *

The rangers finally made it back to Rootcore, the chest containing the Fire Heart sitting on the table and counting down. They had lost some time when they were stopped by Hidiacs on their way back, the seven were able to easily take down the foot soldiers. All seven stared at the chest, trying to figure out how to open it. "It's still counting down," Maddie groaned.

"Sorry guys," Chip sighed. None of them took note of Xander and his new look just yet. "I've never seen a puzzle like this. I don't know where to even begin."

"Then none of us do," Maddie huffed as Nick noticed something sticking out of the back of Xander's head. "And we've already lost half an hour."

Nick frowned as he faced Xander. "You still got leaves stuck in your hair from the battle." He reached behind the boy's head to pull it out, only for Xander to yelp in pain and Nick to back away. Everyone stared at the green ranger, wide eyed.

"It's nothing," Xander turned around, showing the branch spouting from his head. Maggie noticed this and immediately searched for a pen and something to write on. This could help with medical studies on rangers, their powers, and weird things that could happen to them. "Really." He turned around to face the others. "I'm just having a little issue." Spreading out his arms revealed to the others that there were branches with leaves where the arms should be.

Everyone began chuckling, trying not to be rude as they laughed at Xander's predicament. They weren't doing a very good job. "This is funny to you guys?" Xander pouted.

"Oh, come on, Xander," Vida smirked. "Hey, you always laugh when Clare turns herself into funny stuff."

"I'm sure it's just a side effect of your organic powers," Maddie theorized, trying to keep a straight face. "It'll go away." Then she added a final thought. "Knock on wood." Once more, they dissolved into laughter.

"Guys, guys, come on," Nick called, breaking it up. "Leaf…Xander alone." Of course, they continued their laugh fest.

"Guys, can we focus on something more important," Xander begged. "Like opening the chest? We're running out of time."

All of them stared at the box. "I bet your cousin could figure it out," Hunter spoke to his girlfriend, drawing the others attention to them.

"Red head or greenie?" Maggie wondered, getting on the same page. The others didn't realize she was referring to Cam and Leanne, having never met the two. Cam was Maggie's cousin, both of their father's being brothers, and since Shane was Maggie's half brother through their father, he was Cam's cousin as well. Leanne had recently married Cam, so she was Maggie and Shane's cousin by marriage.

"Both," the blonde shrugged. "Though Cam might be easier to reach, especially if Leanne's at the hospital working."

"I'll have to wait there for him to finish up solving it if he can," Maggie bit her lip. "But it's worth a shot."

"I hate to interrupt this…whatever," Vida looked at her older sister and the crimson ranger. "But mind telling us what you're babbling about?"

Maggie and Hunter looked up. "We know who can solve the puzzle."

* * *

"Hardest puzzle in the world?" Cam raised an amused eyebrow as his cousin and Bentley faced him inside Ninja Ops. Maggie had dropped off the chest with him, hoping he could solve it. She and Hunter had ninja streaked it here, getting it there in less than half the time it would normally take to get it there. Hunter had gone back, knowing that it would be better if the team wasn't missing two rangers, should a battle arise.

"Next to impossible," Maggie grinned, knowing that he was up for the challenge. There were no classes today, so she thought she would go hang out with the others while Cam worked on this. "Can you beat the clock?"

"I can solve this in less than an hour," the former green ranger scoffed. "What's in it that's so important, anyway?"

"Dunno," the brunette shrugged. "All I know is that it's something called the Fire Heart."

Cam nodded and examined the box. "I'll call when I have it solved."

Maggie smiled.

* * *

"And then his arms turned into branches…" Maggie couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her son tell the tale of Xander the Tree to her sisters, who were all in the lounge room of Storm Chargers, listening in. She was in the garage part, helping Dustin repair a bike and Shane was helping the two out. Kelly had yet to be seen, and Blake was off racing again. Tori, Skyla, and Leanne all seemed rather amused by it, wondering if it really happened or if it was just his imagination gone wild.

"So, dude, why are you here?" Dustin wondered as he drew her attention back to their conversation.

"I'm having Cam help me with something I need," Maggie explained. "For stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Shane looked at his sister, curious. The only ones who knew she and Hunter were rangers again was Dustin and Skyla, and the brunette was sure that Leanne and Tori and Cam had figured it out. She had no doubt Kelly did. Shane, however, seemed clueless.

Maggie shrugged. "Nothing out of the usual. Just typical freaks trying to take over the world and me somehow getting sucked into fighting against it…"

"Man, can't you give it up?" Shane wondered. "This is what? Number three?"

"Yeah," the younger girl nodded. "I want it to end. I want a normal life. But no. Fate won't allow me to have one."

"Hey, no need to get angry," Dustin warned. "I don't want to have to hold you back from a fight again."

"Again?" Shane blinked. "When did you get into a fight outside of ranger stuff?"

Maggie groaned. "Can we please change the subject? I really don't want to relive it."

"So, Dustin, when's the wedding?" Shane turned the attention to the earth ninja.

"Wedding?" Maggie whipped around, facing Dustin. She knew he was dating Marah, her cousin, but she didn't hear that he got engaged. "Since when the hell are you engaged?"

Dustin shot the former red a glare. "This is what I was trying to avoid." He faced Maggie. "Marah and I are engaged…since last week."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Maggie smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Dude!" the earth ninja rubbed the spot. "I didn't tell you because I know you think Marah's a bitch…"

"No no no," Maggie corrected. "Kapri's the bitchy one. I don't exactly like Marah, but I tolerate her. Haven't forgiven either of them for what they did, but if she makes you happy and you wanna propose to her, be my guest."

* * *

Maggie found herself and Bentley walking into Rootcore, the chest to the Fire Heart in their hands. Cam had managed to solve it and the box was open, but they hadn't looked inside yet. Maggie didn't want to find out until the others found out, so she was bringing the case into Rootcore. She knew the others were here, having gone here after the recent battle and taking down another monster. She walked in, smiling and set the chest down on the table. She noted Xander was back to normal as the others crowded around her.

"He solved it?" Hunter asked as he lifted Bentley onto a chair so he could see.

"Did you expect any less?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.

"What are we waiting for?" Vida wondered. "Let's open it!" Maggie lifted the lid of the chest to reveal a giant red egg with a golden colored web around it and a few blue dots here and there.

"An egg?" Chip frowned. "The Fire Heart is an egg?"

Udonna answered. "No ordinary egg, Chip. This…is the last Dragon egg."

* * *

A/N: Not the best, but it kinda works. Anyway, what'll happen next? Maggie gains some new family members (technically).


	11. The Gatekeeper Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 11: The Gatekeeper **

**Part I**

_A/N: Within these two chapters Maggie gets a few new family members (related to her through marriage, which will be further explained). Anyway, what'll happen when the rangers discover Clare has a special power? What will Clare think? I'm not sure how these next two chapters will go, so bear with me. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Come on Lils," Maggie grinned at her sister. It was a beautiful day in mid May and Maggie was visiting her sister in Ocean Bluff. Lily was currently finishing up her sophomore year in college, studying business so she could one day open up her own dance studio. Maggie had some time off of work and used the opportunity to spend a day with the sister she hadn't seen in a while. She had left Bentley with Hunter, considering she wasn't going to be here that long anyway. "You can tell me."

"For the last time Mags," Lily gave her a serious look. "I do not have a crush on anyone."

"Bullshit," Maggie scoffed before taking a sip of her soda. They were out eating lunch, catching up. Lily knew that her sister was a ranger again, having pieced things together from news reports. She knew that it was part of why she couldn't stay long. "There's gotta be _someone_."

"So just because you're happily with Hunter I have to find someone to date?" the blonde raised an eyebrow.

Maggie bit her lip. "Well, no. But you know you have some crushes on a few guys. So it didn't work out with Theo. Both of you are still great friends and you both got over your feelings for each other. You'll find someone new. What about that kid on the baseball team you were telling me about?"

"I don't know what you mean," Lily frowned, pretending to be innocent.

"Sure you do, Chilman," Maggie smirked. "The guy with the blondish brown hair that you said…"

"Oh, that guy," Lily rolled her eyes. "He's dating someone else and they make a cute couple."

Maggie looked at her sister, studying her for a moment. "He's dating one of your roommates, isn't he?"

"Hey, I have no problem with it," Lily shrugged. "My roommate is happy and to be honest, I'd rather have her that way than sulking around all the time about how her family's screwed up."

"She do that a lot?" Maggie wondered.

"Every time she talks about it, I say 'you clearly haven't met my sister and her messed up family,'" Lily smiled. Maggie shoved her a bit from across the table.

"That makes your family messed up too, then," she pointed out.

"No it doesn't. I'm not biologically related to you, so over half your family tree has nothing to do with me."

Maggie narrowed her eyes. "Point taken. But…" she was cut off as her morpher went off. "I owe you a lunch."

"I'm holding you to that!" Lily called as her sister ran out.

* * *

"What'd I miss?" Maggie breathed as she ran into Rootcore. By the time she had gotten back into Briarwood, she had missed the fight and headed straight to the base, hoping to catch up on what she had missed. The others were standing all around the room, wondering what was going on themselves. She walked over and stood by Hunter, hoping he could answer her.

"Necrolai attacked Toby, shouting something about a gatekeeper," he whispered. "We're not exactly sure what's going on either."

"Udonna," Maddie called. "Something weird is going on."

"We just had a close encounter with Necrolai," Xander added.

"She was looking for someone called the gatekeeper," Chip finished.

Udonna looked up from what she was working on. "Do you have any clue who she's talking about?" Nick wondered. She turned and Maggie saw a look she knew all too well.

"You do know, don't you?" she asked carefully.

"The gatekeeper was a powerful sorceress named Niella," the older woman began.

"That name sounds familiar," Maggie frowned. Before her sensei had been killed, she had heard her telling Leanne about one of her aunts who died in a great battle, and if she had heard correctly, the name of said aunt was Niella.

"She was one of my sisters," Udonna faced the rangers.

"One of them?" Xander blinked. "What happened to the other?"

Udonna seemed to get a saddened look on her face. "I have three siblings. My younger sister and I are the youngest two, and both of our paths involved magic. My eldest sister, now known as Falyn Omino, followed the path of a ninja, which is why two of you are mystic fire rangers. My brother followed the way of the Pai Zhuq."

"Ugh!" Maggie groaned, letting her head hit the table.

"Is there something wrong?" Udonna frowned as everyone turned to her.

"No," Hunter shook his head. "Your sister who became a ninja was Maggie's sensei before she was killed by one of Maggie's uncles who became a rogue ninja. Her daughter, Leanne, married Maggie's cousin, Cam, and since Leanne's mother was your sister, that makes you Leanne's aunt, and in a way, related to Maggie. It just makes her family tree even more confusing."

"Confusing?" Maggie looked up at him. "My family tree is a freaking jigsaw puzzle! I actually need to map it out just to keep track of how I'm related to who in my family. After all, everyone on our first team is related to me somehow."

Nick decided to interrupt. "Okay, now that that's settled, can we get back to the matter at hand?"

"Niella cast a spell that sealed the gate," Udonna continued. "And banished Morticon and his armies to the Underworld. The spell was so strong that it depleted all of her life force. When the gate was lowered to the depths, Niella was gone. But her spirit lives on in my heart and through the legacy of her heir."

"She had a child?" Maddie concluded.

"Yes, and I fear that is who Necrolai is seeking," Udonna nodded.

"So we have to find the child first," Vida stated. "And protect them."

Udonna knew exactly who her sister's daughter was and where she was. "You won't have to look far. Niella's daughter and heir to the gatekeeper's power…is Clare." At that moment, Clare, who had turned herself invisible, made herself visible so she was next to the rangers. She had heard the entire thing.

* * *

Maggie found herself in Rock Porium with Maddie and Vida, talking to them about her family tree. They were curious as to what Hunter had meant earlier when he explained, and since – aside from Hunter – they were the only two on the team to know about her father, she felt it easier to let them know. The other guys didn't have to know, and she didn't want them to know. Bentley was sitting on the counter that they were standing next to, not really paying attention to what his mother and aunts were talking about.

"I still can't believe it," Maddie shook her head when her older sister finished explaining. "Clare has legendary powers strong enough to lock up the forces of evil?"

"Or unlock them," Nick added as the guys joined them.

"Guys, guys," Toby called as he entered. "You're never gonna believe what happened to me today. I actually met…" their morphers went off.

"Sorry boss," Xander apologized. "I got to take this." He turned away and checked it. "It's Necrolai," he whispered. "She's shown up in the city plaza."

"Let's go," Nick ordered. The rangers ran out, Maggie staying behind. As much as she wanted to go help, she wasn't going to leave her son with someone she didn't really know, and not without a good enough explanation.

* * *

"Hold it right there," Nick ordered as the other six rangers came to a stop on the field. Necrolai was facing them, ready for a fight. No one else was in the area when they arrived, so they knew that there was no one they had to escort away.

"I'm glad you could make it, rangers," Necrolai smirked.

"You're never gonna find the gatekeeper," Vida vowed. "So give it up!"

"Oh, I have a new plan," Necrolai turned to face them. "I'll let the gatekeeper find me. Someone so noble would never stand by while the rangers are being destroyed." A few new weapons of hers appeared. "Like my new powers?"

"Like this!" Nick growled. "Magi staff!" he charged, only to be shot down. When he stood back up, Necrolai shot them all down. She cackled loudly as they all lay on the ground in pain.

* * *

Maggie found herself walking through the woods after leaving Bentley with her little sister. She didn't exactly know why she had come through the woods instead of going to help the others in the fight. Something made it feel like she had to be in the woods, looking for something. She wasn't sure what caused it or what she was looking for. All she knew was that she was walking around the forest for a reason.

"Clare, what are you doing out here?" Maggie wondered as she spotted the blonde sitting on a log. She took a seat next to her.

"Nothing," she sighed.

"You know, Udonna won't blame you for being upset with her," Maggie pointed out. She knew that what was revealed earlier had a huge effect on the blonde.

"It's just not fair," Clare whined. "Being the gatekeeper is my legacy. She can't keep that power from me forever."

Maggie blinked. "I honestly have no idea what to say."

"She doesn't think I can handle it," Clare sniffled. "Because…I'm incompetent…and bumbling and clumsy."

"Clare, no one thinks you're incompetent," Maggie frowned. "Bumbling and clumsy, sure, but we're all bumbling and clumsy at some point in our lives. You're far from incompetent. We're sorry if we make you feel that way, but I at least try not to. I know what it feels like."

Clare looked up at the brunette. "You do?"

"Clare, if I tell you what I'm about to, you can't say a word to anyone else, aside from Vida, Maddie, and Hunter, okay?" Maggie pleaded.

"Okay, but why only them three?" she wondered.

"Because they already know how my father made me feel incompetent." Maggie began explaining what she meant, and Clare was shocked at what the brunette revealed. To her, Maggie didn't seem like a person who had been abused like that. When she finished, Clare was silent. She had no idea what to say, or even how to say it.

However, she never got the chance because Koragg appeared, catching their attention. "We meet again, Orange Ranger."

"Okay, seriously," Maggie scoffed as she stood. "Do you like…have some sort of mirror thing that you use to spy on us? Because that is way too creepy, even for a guy like you. What do you want, anyway?"

"I've come for you," Koragg stated.

"Again, saying things like that adds to the creepy factor," Maggie rolled her eyes. Koragg fired at her, Maggie bringing up her fire powers to help defend herself. A small explosion of the powers colliding occurred, and Maggie was nowhere to be seen when it was over.

"Maggie!" Clare went wide eyed, spotting the girl trapped in a glowing ball in Koragg's hands.

Koragg smirked. "With all protectors of the human world in our grasp, surely the gatekeeper will step forward."

"Let her go!" Clare demanded.

"Nice try, apprentice," the villain snorted. He vanished, disappearing with Maggie in his hands.

* * *

"Foolish rangers," Necrolai huffed as she watched the six rangers on the ground. They were wondering why Maggie hadn't shown up yet, and they hadn't heard anything from her. The six rangers had been shot down by Necrolai, and were all struggling to stand. Hunter was the first to get to his feet.

"You're the fool if you think we're giving up," he growled. Weapon drawn, he charged the vampire, deflecting blows headed for him. "You'll never get the gatekeeper while we're around!" he got closer and became locked in combat with her, hoping to take her down. She swung low and he jumped, stumbling back a bit when he landed. This gave Necrolai a clear shot at the ground, sending a powerful force through it that knocked the crimson ranger off his feet.

"You're beat, and no one has come to save you!" she taunted. "Maybe there is no other gatekeeper." Out of nowhere, she was shot down. "What?" the others turned and saw Clare running in, a crown like object in her hands.

"Wrong, Necrolai," she corrected. "My mother's spirit lives inside me." The others got to their feet as they watched what was happening. Clare took the headband and set it upon her head. A set of new clothes covered her as a purple veil and a new dress wrapped around her. "Power of the Shining Moon! Behold – the Gatekeeper!"

"The oracle was right," Necrolai gasped. "So there is another. And my plan to draw you out has worked perfectly."

Clare glared at the enemy. "You're going to regret ever meeting me, witch." A staff appeared in her hands. Necrolai fired, only for a shield Clare put up to deflect it. Clare fired at the vampire, hitting her.

"My new powers!" she coughed when she dropped to her knees. "They're gone!" the rangers ran to Clare, all of them crowding around her. Then they turned to Necrolai, hoping to finish the job. All six leapt into the fight, kicking Necrolai back simultaneously. "You will still lose, rangers!" she flew off, angry as usual.

The rangers turned to Clare. "Great job Clare," Chip grinned beneath his helmet.

"There's no time for that," she cut their celebrating. "Maggie's been captured," she looked at Vida, Maddie, and Hunter as she said this, knowing they knew about her past and would understand how important it was they get her back as soon as possible. Nick clutched his head in pain.

"_You will tell the gatekeeper to battle me alone," _Koragg's voice rang through his head. _"If she does not come, your Orange Ranger will perish."_

"Nick, what is it?" Vida asked.

Nick looked at Clare. "He wants to fight you – alone."

"I accept," Clare nodded, deadly serious.

* * *

Once back at Rootcore, the six rangers were set on searching for their missing teammate. Udonna had yet to be seen. Clare had gone off to fight Koragg, in hopes of saving Maggie. Vida, Hunter, and Maddie were more worried about Maggie than the others. "We shouldn't have let Clare go on her own," Maddie voiced the first thought on the situation.

"You saw how she sent Necrolai running," Vida pointed out.

"Yeah, but Koragg is a whole other story," Nick agreed with the blue ranger as they all turned to the crystal ball to watch.

None of them noticed Hunter slip out of the room quietly.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I'm cutting it off here so I can have it transition into the next chapter better. Anyway, what happened to Maggie? Where did Hunter go? Who will show up in the next chapter?


	12. The Gatekeeper Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 12: The Gatekeeper **

**Part II**

_A/N: So last time, Maggie got kidnapped by Koragg, Hunter disappeared after the fight to go somewhere, Clare was discovered as the gatekeeper and the remaining rangers were last helping her fight off Koragg. Clare was held back by Necrolai, who used her powers to open the gate of the Underworld. What'll happen now? Will any old faces make any appearance? _

_Also, you found out in the last chapter that Udonna not only had one sister, but two sisters and a brother. Her other sister was Maggie's sensei, Leanne's mother, and Udonna's brother was identified as a Pai Zhuq master. _

_Most of this will probably involve scenes not from the episode (since most of the ones in this episode involve fighting) and this chapter may be short._

_To **XoxMountainGirlxoX, **Maggie will eventually be connected to the original rangers (in the ninth story and any story after that in this series, Fractured Journey). I won't say to who she is connected and I won't say how, but she will be connected to an original ranger(s). Also, I have her meet Adam in the next story that comes after this one in the series. _

_Also, someone recently asked me when I would be starting my **Mixed Hearts **series, and my answer is somewhere near June 28th, since that's when I get out of school and should have most of the first story written by then._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in any show._

* * *

Hunter found his way inside Blue Bay General hospital. After hearing from Cam that his wife was working today, the crimson ranger knew where he had to go for help. He knew that though his sister wasn't a ranger, she could still kick anyone's ass, including a ranger's villain, and if she was doing it to defend her family, there was no stopping her. He knew that Leanne and Maggie were close, nearly as close as Maggie, Lily, and Kelly were.

When he got inside, he went to the front desk and asked to see her. The woman behind it pushed a few buttons and after a few minutes, the red head walked out. "Hunter, what are you doing here?"

"I need your help, Leah," he replied.

"With what?" she sighed. She was having a bad day already, thanks to some very cranky patients, and she didn't feel like doing anything.

"It involves powers and suits and…" he broke off, hoping she could understand where this was headed. After all, he couldn't exactly get specific in a public place.

Leanne caught on. "And how am I supposed to help with that? You guys were the ones who did, remember?"

"Because it involves your family."

* * *

After filling Leanne in on what he could once they made it back to Briarwood, the two found themselves standing with the other rangers. Hunter had morphed to join them while Leanne was hiding in her ninja uniform, mask on. If media was catching wind of this, she didn't need them knowing who she was and discovering she had a connection to rangers. All the rangers, Clare, and Leanne were staring at the recently opened gates of the Underworld, in shock.

"I'm sorry rangers," Clare apologized.

"It wasn't your fault," Maddie assured.

"Look!" Xander pointed. "Up at the gate!" they all saw the statue at the top of it come to life. It hit the ground, showing the rangers he was a megazord sized beast. He fired at the group of eight, sending them to the ground. While they were down, Koragg grabbed Clare by the arm and dragged her off. Leanne looked at Hunter and gave him a nod, signaling she was going to follow them as they disappeared.

* * *

After seeing Clare and Koragg disappear, Leanne found herself following them from a distance. She hadn't been spotted yet and was glad she hadn't been. The red head knew that her cousin and Maggie were in danger. Though she had only met Clare a few times as children, she knew that she was family, and Leanne would do anything for family. She was hoping that Koragg would bring Clare to where Maggie was, making it easier to get both of them.

She noticed that Clare seemed trapped by some sort of force field once she found her cousin and Maggie in a room. Maggie was trapped in a glowing ball, looking bored as usual. _Of course she wouldn't make a big deal out of this, _Leanne rolled her eyes. She knew neither Maggie nor Clare could see her, and if they couldn't, Koragg couldn't. Slowly, she crept further into the room, making sure she wasn't seen or heard.

"Seriously!" Maggie shouted. "Do you watch every single move we make?"

Koragg snarled before turning to Clare. "Your magic was strong enough to raise the gate. Now we'll see if you have enough power to open it."

"Don't do it Clare!" Maggie warned. "No matter what happens."

"I will never help you, Koragg," the blonde spat. Leanne couldn't help but smirk from her hiding spot.

"I don't intend to ask for your magic," Koragg huffed. "I intend to take it. Eye of the master!" A giant blue wheel spinning in different directions sat above Clare. "Perfect. When the spell wheel is complete, the gates will open, and our armies will be released." The wheels stopped and a rippling, painful shock was sent through Clare.

Leanne knew she had to act fast. Thinking quickly, she used her thunder powers to draw the thunder ninja academy logo in crimson lightning. She flashed it toward Maggie, keeping it in the brunette's line of sight. Maggie saw the flicker of it and looked over, spotting Leanne in full thunder ninja uniform, mask included. She rolled her eyes, figuring Hunter must've gone to get her to help. She nodded, indicating she saw her.

Leanne smirked and erased the drawing with a swipe of her hand. Moving quickly, she drew again, this time a thing in the shape of a dino gem. Maggie frowned as she reached up to her neck, where her dino gem lay. After realizing their gems still had power, the others decided to keep them. Maggie had turned hers back into a necklace, and she usually forgot it was there unless she was taking it off or putting it on. She recalled the power it had given her. It gave her the ability to shrink, and as she recently discovered, the power to grow. Leanne drew an arrow pointing up, and Maggie grinned.

Clutching the orange gem around her neck, the fire ninja shut her eyes and concentrated on growing to her full height. Being trapped in the glowing ball had shrunk her a bit, and she needed to grow to break out of it. Koragg wasn't paying attention as he watched the gates open. Maggie knew this would work to her advantage as she stood at her full height behind him.

"Stop this nonsense, Koragg," she growled.

Koragg whipped around to see her out of the trap and full size again. "How did you break out?"

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out," she glared.

"It doesn't matter," he drew his sword. "It'll soon be over." To his surprise, Maggie crossed her arms and smirked.

"You have no idea."

Koragg never noticed that Leanne snuck up behind him and sent a painful shock through him using her ninja powers. Maggie added to the pain by sending a stream of fire at him. Both girls continued until he dropped to the ground, unconscious. Smirking, the two high fived before running to catch Clare, who was falling down.

"Hunter sent you?" Maggie asked as they caught Clare and steadied her. Leanne nodded. "Good call."

"Come on," Leanne urged. "Let's get Clare out of here before he wakes up."

* * *

Leanne and Maggie helped escort a drained Clare into Rootcore, where Udonna was mixing a potion while keeping an eye on the ranger's battle. She had seen most of the things in the fight, but she had not known that Clare had been drained a bit of her powers. "Clare!" she gasped in shock, seeing the state her niece was in. She moved to help the two girls as they set the blonde on a chair, making her comfortable. "What happened?"

"That freaky armored guy drained some of her powers to open the gate," Leanne explained. Udonna looked at her other niece, shocked to see her here.

"Leanne, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Hunter came and got me," the red head sighed. "He told me that my family was in trouble, and after what happened to mom a few years back, I didn't want to risk that happening to anyone else in the family."

"Thank you," Udonna breathed, giving her a brief hug. "Now, what are we going to do?"

Maggie smirked, sharing a look with Leanne. "I have an idea."

* * *

The rangers were not happy with the current fight they were locked in. the sky had darkened considerably since the gate had opened, and they had been bashed around by the villains that had escaped it. Nothing seemed to be working, no matter how hard they tried. Thankfully, they were still in full morph, giving them some protection.

After fighting for a while longer, the sky had cleared and Nick found himself fighting against Koragg in the middle of the quarry. When he had found space to go rescue Clare and Maggie, he only found Koragg, just getting up from the floor. Neither girl was in sight, and he was wondering what had happened. Koragg had vanished and Nick was back with the others.

To their surprise, the gate had shut and sunk back down into the Underworld. The rangers noticed this from their zords, which were lying on the ground. They had yet to make the megazord, since they couldn't do it without Maggie there. The sky cleared back to its bright blue color. "My dark magic!" Morticon growled. "Who dares interfere?" Before Nick could make his appearance, they all heard giggling.

"You've got to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen!" Maggie's giggling voice reached their ears. Vida, Maddie, Chip, and Xander frowned. This wasn't the Maggie they knew. However, Hunter groaned. He had seen the effect pain meds had on her, and just by her voice he could tell Leanne must've allowed her to have some. "Then again, that clown a few years ago was rather ugly. Oh well!"

"What's going on?" Xander called. "There's no way that's Maggie!"

"Sadly, it is," Hunter sighed. "She's taken some pain killers and they always make her loopy."

"So we got a delirious ranger on our hands?" Vida raised an eyebrow. "Great."

Morticon didn't look happy. "Shut up you annoying pest!"

"I'm not annoying!" Maggie retorted, growing bigger than a megazord. "I'm smart!" she picked up her foot and brought it down on Morticon, who she was now towering over, much to the others' surprise. "You're the annoying bug." She lifted her foot again and brought it back to her, revealing a very squished and injured villain. She shrunk back down to megazord size.

* * *

After destroying Morticon, the rangers found themselves in various places. Leanne was being given a tour of the new Storm Chargers, which was still a month or two away from being finished and ready for opening. Hunter was with them, Bentley was running around the store, and the other rangers were at Rootcore, congratulating Clare on helping them and using her gatekeeper powers to keep the gate underground. Maggie's pain meds had worn off.

"So there's nothing going on between you two?" Leanne asked as Hunter disappeared into the back room.

"Lena, for the last time Hunter and I are not dating," Maggie rolled her eyes. "Kelly asked both of us to get this new Storm Chargers up and running, and we agreed it would be cheaper to live together instead of getting two apartments for four people. Both of us becoming rangers again…well, that was just total accident. By the way, how's Skyla's pregnancy going?"

"She's twenty one weeks along," Leanne stated. Maggie grinned, knowing that it wasn't going to be much longer before she became an aunt. Since Skyla was marrying Shane, who was Maggie's older half brother, and Skyla was carrying his child, Maggie was going to have a niece or nephew joining her family. "She and Shane don't want to know the gender. How's their wedding plans coming along?"

"They set theirs a month before Dustin and Marah's," Maggie sighed. "I get to play maid of honor with the fancy dress again." She looked to the red head beside her. "Did you talk with Udonna about your mother? She seemed to have no clue earlier when Hunter let it slip that my uncle killed your mother."

Leanne nodded. "I forgot to tell her when it first happened. I mean, I've barely heard from her since a couple months before I met you when you joined the academy, and that was when she began training Clare. The only family member I've really been in contact with from my mother's side was my uncle."

"Lily's Pai Zhuq master," Maggie recalled. That was why the Pai Zhuq academy and Ember Academy were close.

* * *

A/N: Honestly had no idea how to close this chapter. Up next, the rangers find a new ally. Who will it be, and what else will happen?

Thanks to those who read, review, and favorite!


	13. Scaredy Cat

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 13: Scaredy Cat**

_A/N: It's now the beginning of June in this chapter. If it feels like the months in this story are going by fast, it's probably because it is. I'm trying to make it seem like a battle a week each month in this story's time, and trying to fit the episode with the month it aired. The other stories in this series are going to be on similar time lines, the exception being Overdrive because of what I have planned to happen by the end of that. Anyway, what'll happen now?_

_Song is "A Dream is a Wish" from the Disney movie Cinderella._

_**Disclaimer: **__I own none of the things originally in any show from any season._

* * *

The rangers were in Rootcore, staring at the Fire Heart egg. They had had it in their possession for weeks now, and they were beginning to get antsy about when it was going to hatch. So far, nothing had come of it. They had not seen any changes in the egg, and they hadn't seen anything showing signs it was going to hatch. All the rangers stood around it, waiting eagerly for something to happen. Maggie had even brought Bentley so he could watch in case something did happen.

"I don't…" Nick started, only to be shushed by an excited Clare. Within the moment, the egg rattled in its resting place.

"It moved!" Xander grinned.

"This is so great!" Chip bounced on his feet. "I'm so excited. What does that mean?"

"It means it's gonna hatch!" Vida answered.

Maddie decided to bring up a good point. "So, does anyone know how to hatch a dragon egg?"

"Udonna will know," Hunter mentioned. Clare grabbed him by his uniform jacket and shook him.

"Udonna's not here!" she yelled.

Maggie sighed. "I know where we can find info." She walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed a giant book about dragons. "One thousand and one things you want to know about dragons. Hatching dragons," she found the page. "'To hatch a dragon egg, set the egg upright and proceed to bludgeon it with a sledgehammer until open.'"

"Excellent," Vida smirked. "I'll get the hammer."

"No," Maggie stopped her younger sister. "No smashing the egg. You don't want to set a bad example, do you?" she motioned with her eyes toward where Bentley was watching the egg curiously. Vida let out a huff just as a knocking was heard.

"Do we have a door?" Nick frowned as he moved to head out of Rootcore, hoping to find the source of the knocking. Vida followed him as the others stayed behind.

Bentley turned to his mother. "Mommy, can we go now?"

"Come on," the brunette grabbed his hand. "We don't go now, he'll never stop whining about it."

"Where are you guys going?" Maddie wondered as they headed for the door.

"Motocross race," Maggie explained. "Help with promotion for Storm Chargers."

* * *

Once arriving at the motocross track, Maggie found herself geared up and ready to ride, as well as Hunter and Dustin. She had lied a little bit when she had said that she was going to a motocross race. Actually, she hadn't lied, but she just didn't specify why she was going to one. It was a promotion for the new Storm Chargers, but it was also a mini reunion of the ninja storm rangers, since they were all going to be in town this weekend. Blake, Maggie, Hunter, and Dustin had a race to compete in first, as Kelly, Skyla, Leanne, Cam, Tori, and Shane all watched.

As they lined up at the starting line, Maggie looked at the guys. "Let's make this interesting."

"We're listening," Blake answered.

"Losers," Maggie smirked. "Have to sing karaoke in front of the current and previous two ranger teams. Includes our friends in the stands, the dino rangers, and the current mystic team. Winner chooses song."

Blake, Hunter, and Dustin shared a look. There could only be one winner, which meant two of the guys were definitely going to lose, no matter what. "Deal!"

"Good luck, ladies," she snapped on her helmet and darted off the minute the gates went down. It took the three boys a minute to catch up to her.

Up in the crowd, the ninjas, Kelly, and Skyla all stood with Bentley, watching the four. Shane and Skyla were cheering for Maggie along with Bentley, Tori was cheering for Blake, and because they didn't want the other two to feel left out, Kelly cheered for Dustin as Leanne and Cam cheered for Hunter. Skyla was noticeably bigger, being twenty three weeks along in her pregnancy, and everyone could see it. None of them had thought she'd be the first woman in the group to have a kid after they began getting married and what not.

As the race went on, the cheering grew louder. It was a close race between the four rangers as they neared the finish line. However, as the guys should've expected judging on their past races with Maggie, the orange ranger crossed it first, the three boys trailing behind. Dustin, Hunter, and Blake all groaned, knowing that Maggie was going to embarrass them by choosing a song none of them wanted to sing. They just had to agree to the bet.

"Nice job," Tori commented as the group neared their friends.

"Maggie, why do you look like you have an evil plan?" Skyla looked at her future sister in law.

"Let's just say that these three should know better than to place a bet against me," the brunette smirked wider.

* * *

After getting back to Rootcore with Bentley once more, Maggie and Hunter ran into the others as they were walking inside, carrying a lamp of some sort. She and Hunter had been called back to help with this, and on the whole way home, Hunter was trying to get Maggie to spill what she was planning for the guys. They knew it was possible she would make them wear stupid costumes and sing some girly or kid song, which none of them were looking forward to.

"Yep," Maddie confirmed as they all stared at the lamp. "It's definitely the mystic symbol on it."

"Maybe there's more writing," Nick picked up a nearby cloth. He began rubbing the lamp in circles, trying to wipe away some of the dirt. After all, they had found it inside a cave. He blew on it, clearing dust that was in the way. The lamp began shaking, causing everyone to back up a bit. The lid popped off as smoke came out and behind the rangers appeared a giant cat with a very toothy grin.

"I am the great genie Jenji!" he greeted as they turned to him, Bentley hiding behind his mother a bit. "I grant you one wishes."

Bentley frowned. If watching the movie _Aladdin _was anything to go by, then he had a right to say this. "It's supposed to be three."

"Genie?" Xander looked at the cat, shocked and causing the feline to forget Bentley's statement.

"Got a problem with that?" Jenji looked ready to fight.

"Well, no," Xander shook his head.

"Good," Jenji sighed of relief. "I hate violence. Now, here's the rules. You're the master. I'm the genie. You get one wish. You can't hurt anyone with it – blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

"A real live genie," Chip grinned. "I've always wanted one of those."

Jenji spoke once more. "One wish. Don't take all day. Got a lot of other things to do, like sit in a cave for another nineteen years."

"Are you blaming us?" Vida glared.

"Oh, so now it's blame the big cat," Jenji huffed.

"So one wish, right?" Xander changed the topic.

"Careful," Maggie warned. "Genies are known to be very tricky."

Maddie looked at her sister. "Since when do you know about genies?"

"My first mentor was a guinea pig and my uncle, my other uncle was the first villain I ever fought against, my brother is marrying an alien, I have the power to change my size because of some gem thing I tripped over, and we're currently hatching a dragon egg," she explained. "Why wouldn't I know about genies?"

"Getting back on topic?" Hunter looked at the two girls.

Jenji began listing possible items to wish for from A to Z. "Airplanes, balloons, cash, DVDs –not pirated, elephants, ferns, gold, houses, igloos, jade, kites, limes, moats, necklaces, opals, polo ponies, quills – who put the steps? Roast beef, six silver saddles, Texas, underwear, vases, whales, xylophones, yaks, and zippers." He took a deep breath. "A to Z, anything your heart desires."

Maggie's face lit up as she got an idea for the losers of the bet.

"I know," Chip piped up. "With just one wish, I wish…for ten wishes for each of us."

"Granted!" Jenji nodded. "Like nobody's ever asked for that before."

"I wish," Xander began. "For a hundred diamonds." He held his hands out, waiting for the jewels to appear.

Jenji looked at the hands. "You haven't washed your hands lately, have you?"

"Nothing happened," Xander looked at his hands.

"Genie rules," Bentley began, drawing attention to him. "No wishing for love, no wishing for dead people to be alive, and no wishing for more wishes."

"Listen to him," Jenji nodded. "He knows his genie rules."

"He's just a kid," Nick pointed out.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Haven't you ever seen the movie _Aladdin?" _

"Carrot top wished for ten wishes for each of you," Jenji explained. "I granted that, thereby and henceforth nullifying any further wishes. Hey, it's in the genie contract." Clare walked in, carrying the Fire Heart egg. "Did I not show that to you?" he spotted the egg as they followed Clare. "Ooh! Is that a dragon's egg? 'Cause I'm hungry."

"Yes, it is," the blonde smiled.

"Can someone say omelet?" Jenji looked at it eagerly.

Clare looked to the rangers. "Does you-know-who know that you brought home a stray cat?"

"Don't worry," Nick assured. "I don't think we're gonna keep it."

"It's about to hatch," Jenji stayed focused on the egg. "Better keep it warm. Someone sit on it. It's uncomfortable, but it's the only way."

"Oh boy," Clare sighed, knowing she'd have to do it.

* * *

With the others helping get Clare situated with the Fire Heart egg, Maggie found herself talking to Tori and Marah. All three girls were in various Disney princess costumes, getting ready for the show they had agreed to put on for the kids at the daycare Bentley went to. Hunter, Blake, and Dustin were getting ready as well, since this was part of them losing the bet to Maggie. The brunette had tried to find another one of her girl friends to fill in her spot, keeping suspicion off of her and Hunter's relationship (since few people before the dino thunder era knew of it).

"Why did we agree to this again?" Tori sighed as Maggie finished the blonde's hair.

"Because I need to learn to say no to my son and the adorable little kids in the other room," Maggie answered. "Do you know how hard it is to turn down giving a performance like this when a bunch of little kids are giving you the puppy dog pout?"

"Yeah, but why this song and these outfits?" Marah wondered. She and Maggie didn't really get along quite yet, and they weren't friends, but they could tolerate each other. Maggie figured that since Dustin was now doing this as well, it'd be better for him if he danced with Marah.

"Because the guys lost a bet to me," Maggie smirked. "I need to embarrass them somehow, and I figured having them do this solo and wearing dresses would be a bit cruel."

Tori chuckled. "So what do we do?" She was wearing a Cinderella costume, Marah was in a Belle costume, and Maggie was dressed as Princess Jasmine. In the room across from theirs, Hunter, Blake, and Dustin were dressing up in the appropriate prince costumes.

"We just dance," Maggie explained, adding the last touch to her costume. "The guys are gonna be the ones singing."

"But they can't sing," Marah pointed out.

Maggie realized her fellow brunette had a point. "Damn. Guess that means we're singing, and the guys will have to perform karaoke to a song of my choice later."

"It's just one song, right?" Tori groaned, not really wanting to sing. Maggie nodded and dragged her out, Marah following them. In the hallway, the three met and stood with the guys, all who were none too pleased to do this. As music began, they made their way to the stage and began to dance with their partners.

When it was time, the girls began singing.

"_A dream is a wish your heart makes  
when you're fast asleep  
in dreams you lose your heartaches  
whatever you wish for you keep_

_Have faith in your dreams and someday  
your rainbow will come smiling through  
no matter how your heart is grieving  
if you keep on believing  
that dream that you wish will come true_

_A dream is a wish your heart makes  
when you're feeling small  
alone in the night you whisper  
thinking no one can hear you at all_

_You wake with the morning sunlight  
to find fortune that is smiling on you  
don't let your heart be filled with sorrow  
for all you know, tomorrow  
that dream that you wish will come true_

_A dream is a wish your heart makes  
when you're fast asleep  
in dreams you lose your heartaches  
whatever you wish for you keep_

_You wake with the morning sunlight  
to find fortune that is smiling on you  
don't let your heart be filled with sorrow  
for all you know, tomorrow  
that dream that you wish will come true_

_No matter how your heart is grieving  
if you keep on believing  
that dream that you wish will come true"_

* * *

After fighting off the new villain Imperious, a mummy statue they had found in the same cave as Jenji's lamp, the rangers stood outside Rootcore, with Udonna. They were covering her eyes, not wanting to ruin the surprise. Maggie and Hunter had shown up in time to help with the fight, both arguing about some sort of bet and how something should've been enough for the guys to get out of it. They didn't pay attention to that or even care because both were able to still focus on the fight and help take Imperious down.

Now that they were finished fighting for the day, they could relax a bit. Jenji had helped the rangers in their fight eventually, growing the same size as Imperious had been when they needed to call the megazord. "Can't you just tell me the surprise?" Udonna pleaded as she was led outside.

"No," Vida denied. "Now, keep your eyes closed until we say open them." She turned the sorceress so that her face was facing Jenji and the other rangers.

"All right," Maddie grinned. "We hope you like pets because we have a new cat. Open your eyes!" Udonna removed her hands from her eyes and stared at Jenji.

"It's me!" he greeted. "I'm the cat!"

"Jenji!" she smiled.

"Udonna!" the cat hugged her. "You haven't aged a day."

Xander looked at the others. "I think we can keep him."

"Guys," Maggie came running out of Rootcore. "Clare needs a bit of help." She ran back in, everyone else following. As they entered, they saw Clare, who was sitting on the dragon egg, which was shaking. "It's gonna hatch." Maddie and Vida caught the blonde as she was thrown from the egg when it stood itself upright.

Everyone watched as the shell of the egg chipped away, cracking open. "Waste of a perfectly good omelet," Jenji muttered as the egg fell apart to reveal a baby dragon. The dragon looked directly at Clare.

"Mama."

* * *

A/N: I feel like this chapter didn't exactly turn out the best so far. Anyway, up next another new ally appears. What'll happen then when the rangers gain another new teammate? Also, I have it planned for when Maggie has her next breakdown.


	14. Long Ago

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 14: Long Ago**

_A/N: The rangers are getting a new ally this chapter. Who is it? What'll happen when an old friend comes back but betrays them? Anyway, I have no idea how this chapter is going to work out, so bear with me. Had it not been for the rangers getting a new ally and me wanting to do every episode of every season in this series (Ninja Storm – Samurai, even if I switch around timelines a bit so I can fit in RPM and have it make sense).Anyway, what'll happen now?_

_Italics are dreams._

_Please read the AN at the bottom since it will have important information regarding my updates for the next few weeks._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week after gaining Jenji as an ally and seeing Fire Heart break free from his egg, the rangers found themselves found themselves in Rootcore, going through a trust exercise Udonna wanted them to do. Six out of seven stood in a circle, Maddie in the center with a blindfold over her eyes. Udonna was explaining the exercise to them. "Trust is the key to any team," she stated. "In order to truly trust each other, you must be willing to put your safety in the hands of the team. Are you ready, Madison?"

"I think so," she bit her lip.

"Slowly fall forward," Udonna instructed. "Your team will catch you." Maddie let herself fall forward, Nick and Xander catching her before she fell.

Clare walked by, cradling Fire Heart wrapped in a blanket. "There's a good boy, Fire Heart." The others became distracted and followed her, leaving Maddie to fall backward and hit the floor. Udonna helped her to her feet as she removed the blindfold.

"Oh, that's trust for you," she grumbled. The crystal ball alerted them to trouble.

"Dark Magical Energy is emitting from the forest," Udonna reported.

"We'll go check it out," Hunter assured. The six rangers ran out of Rootcore, hoping to get this battle over with.

* * *

Maggie found herself in a meeting she didn't want to be in. The only good thing about it was that Lily and Kira were there as well, taking part in it. It was only them three and Nana Chilman, who was talking to them about something business related. Kira and Lily weren't really paying attention either, but Maggie was the one dozing off. Nana Chilman knew it, but she didn't know why. Usually Maggie was upbeat in these meetings, but today it didn't seem it.

"Maggie, you listening?" she asked as the brunette's head was about to hit the table.

"Huh?" she blinked, lifting it so she could see. Kira, Lily, and Nana Chilman looked at her.

"You all right, Mags?" Kira wondered. As of the previous year, Skyla, Tori, and Kira were given permission to call Maggie by Mags, which used to be only something Kelly, Leanne, and the Chilmans were allowed to do. Since she had grown closer to the other three, she had given them permission to call her that as well.

"Yeah, you don't look too good," Lily added.

Maggie took a sip of the tea set out before her. "Between work, a treatment my therapist has me on, and ranger duties, I've barely had time to sleep."

"So why don't you fill out a doctor's note or something?" Kira suggested.

"How well do you think giving a doctor's note saying I need time off because I'm sleep deprived would work for a doctor?" the brunette retorted. "Sorry. I'm just cranky."

"What exactly is your therapist saying?" Nana Chilman sighed.

Maggie yawned before replying. "She told me that whenever I have a nightmare about something related to my dad, I should try to stay up for twenty four hours to get it out of my head. She also told me that it's possible I'll see something my father has done if I look at something simple that could trigger it."

"Your therapist is crazy," Lily scoffed. "As a doctor, you should know you can't stay up a full twenty four hours. Take into consideration your few jobs."

"Don't remind me," she groaned.

* * *

Maggie found herself running into the other rangers as they were out searching for the disturbance that they had found. She was still feeling tired, but she knew she had jobs to do. She had no idea why the others were out walking around in the forest, considering she knew they had a trust exercise to work on while she was at the meeting. She leaned against Hunter as they walked. Hunter had his arm wrapped around her, supporting her in case she began dozing off.

"It's quiet," Chip commented. "Too quiet." The others rolled their eyes. "Sorry. Always wanted to say that."

"I get the feeling…" Vida began, stopping in her tracks and slowly turning around. An armored creature jumped out from behind a tree, causing all of them to turn around and face him, joining Vida. "…Like we're being watched."

"What brings you children into these dangerous woods?" the creature asked.

Maggie's eyes widened. "Children? Did he just call us _children?" _She glared at the thing. "We are not children, and you are certainly not welcome here."

"Give us a second and we'll show you," Nick added. They all ran to charge and began fighting. The only ones getting anywhere were Hunter and Maggie, but that was because of their excessive powers. The others were knocked down not too far along in the fight. Hunter was sent stumbling back, and Maggie knocked the armored man back with a fire ball. The six other rangers regrouped around her.

"Wait!" Udonna's voice reached their ears just as they reached for their morphers.

"Watch out!" Nick warned. "He's evil!"

To their surprise, Udonna shook her head. "No, he's not. He's an old friend." She stepped up to the man as he dropped the suit of armor, revealing a tall blonde man with shoulder length hair.

"Udonna," he greeted, arms out wide.

"Calindor!" she smiled, hugging him. "You haven't aged a day."

"I'll explain later," he assured.

Udonna stepped aside and motioned at the rangers. "These are the mystic rangers."

"The forest will forever be in your debt," he bowed.

"Who is this guy?" Maddie wondered.

"A great warrior," the older sorceress grinned. "And an old friend."

Nick, being the leader, decided to step forward. "Hey, I'm Nick." In turn, each of the rangers introduced themselves, Maggie not bothering to step forward to do so. She didn't trust this guy, and she had only just met him.

* * *

Hunter and Maggie were sitting on the couch in the lounge area in the new Storm Chargers. They had come here after being introduced to Calindor. On their way, Maggie had said how something didn't seem right. After a few minutes of resting, Maggie had fallen asleep leaning against Hunter. The blonde was glad that Bentley was at the daycare Maggie signed him up for, allowing the place to be quiet, only the TV playing in the background.

He knew she hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and it was only a sign of an impending nervous breakdown. He was keeping track of the signs, and if there was only four signs, then she had one more to go. She had already been angry, she was currently sleep deprived, and she had already snapped. The only thing left before the break down was uncontrollable sobbing. Once again, everyone who knew her had money on the month she would have the breakdown.

He wasn't sure what was running through her mind. He never was sure about that. It was possible some things running through it added to her sleep deprivation, and he wanted to help any way he could. Some of her sleep deprivation was a combination of what her therapist recommended when she had a nightmare about her father, her work schedule at the hospital, and the ranger duties. At least her grandmother gave her time off of her job for her upon noticing the sleep deprivation.

Hunter's thoughts were interrupted as his and Maggie's morphers went off. He carefully reached for his, not trying to wake his girlfriend. "Yeah?" he whispered, not wanting to wake her.

"_You and Maggie need to help us downtown," _Vida's voice floated out. _"Some freaky jester thing."_

"You want me to wake her up after she's been sleep deprived?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"_Shit," _Vida muttered. She knew that her sister getting her sleep was essential, considering her busy work schedule. _"What about you?"_

"She's clutching my shirt and I'm afraid if I try to get up, she'll wake up and end up killing one of us," Hunter stated simply. It was the truth, and Vida knew it.

He heard her sigh before disconnecting the line.

* * *

The rangers found themselves in the Rock Porium after the fight. After getting a decent amount of sleep from her nap, a still tired Maggie was there with them, along with Hunter. The other five were filling them in on what the two had missed as they worked. "Guys, we have to take care of that circus clown running amuck in the city," Nick stated the fact on everyone's mind. "Any ideas on what he's up to?"

"That symbol on the ground," Maddie spoke up. "I know I've seen it somewhere before." She failed to notice a frog jump on her shoulder. "It must have something to do with a dark seal." She noticed the looks the others were giving her.

"Seems your prince has arrived," Xander smirked. Maddie turned and saw the frog, letting out a small yelp as she brushed it away.

"Still don't like frogs, sis?" Vida laughed, knowing the answer already.

"Not since you put one down my dress when we were kids, no," Maddie huffed.

Vida rolled her eyes, still amused. "That was a long time ago." As the frog hopped around, the rangers leapt into a frenzy at trying to catch it. Maggie rolled her eyes before grabbing a container off the counter and capturing the frog in it, sliding the lid under it and flipping it upright so the amphibian couldn't escape.

"Seriously?" she looked around at them. "You guys don't know how to catch a frog?"

* * *

Maggie was making her way back to Rootcore with the frog in the container in her hands. She had a feeling this wasn't a normal frog, seeing as she realized it was the same one that had been following the rangers around all week. The others may not have noticed it, but she did. Something told her that this wasn't an ordinary frog, so she thought Udonna might be able to help her figure it out. After all, it was possible this was more than what everyone thought.

"No!" she heard Clare shout from inside just as she reached the door to Rootcore. Dropping the container with the frog and running inside to see what was wrong, the brunette found Clare on Calindor's back, trying to stop him from doing something. Udonna looked dumfounded as she held a goblet in her hands.

"Clare, what's gotten into you?" the older sorceress demanded.

"He's a liar!" Clare shouted. "He's the one who betrayed the mystics!" through all the moving around Calindor was doing to try and shake Clare off, he knocked the goblet out of Udonna's hands, causing it to spill on a book nearby. She and Maggie watched as a puddle of steaming foam formed on it before coming to a conclusion. Calindor threw Clare toward the other two girls and stood upright.

"Guess the game's over," he growled. He transformed into Imperious, shocking the three. "Surprised? You're mine!"

Udonna and Imperious sent two colliding spells at each other. "You cannot overpower me without your snow staff, Udonna!"

"Maybe with a little help she can," Maggie hissed as she joined in, throwing a fire jet at Imperious, making it two against one.

"I can't hold on," Udonna groaned as the force of the attack shoved the two girls back. "Clare, quick!"

"Meloria Orbis!" the blonde chanted, causing Imperious to vanish. Udonna and Maggie stopped and stood straight. Clare seemed proud of herself. "Who's bumbling now, bub?"

"You!" Imperious answered as he appeared behind her. Maggie naturally fell defensive as Clare was shoved to them. Imperious pointed at them, and fired, encasing them in a shield with no way out and very little room to break through. "You always were a pain, Udonna. Without the Xenotome, the rangers will be helpless at last." He tried touching the open book. "I should've known. A protection spell." The three girls could only watch as he tried to break the spell on the book.

Maggie, however, was trying to figure a way out of the shield.

* * *

The rangers were slightly confused on their trek to Rootcore after finally taking down the jester. In the fight, Maddie briefly got over her fear of frogs when the same one from earlier had appeared and supposedly saved her. In return, she had kissed it atop the head, and as they thought only could happen in fairy tales, the frog transformed into a human, who had introduced himself as Daggeron, an old friend of Udonna's.

Fortunately for the team, he proved to be a huge help when he transformed into the Solaris Knight, and even Jenji knew who he was. With their help, the rangers had been able to defeat the jester. All of them were wondering why Maggie didn't join them again as they made it to Rootcore. When they ran inside, they knew why. Maggie, Udonna, and Clare were all being held captive by Imperious as he tried to access the Xenotome. All got ready to fight. Daggeron shot the villain back, making their presence noticed. The shield around the girls broke, and Maggie immediately ran to stand by her sisters and boyfriend.

"We meet again, Calindor," Daggeron greeted. Clare and Udonna joined the group.

"I am now called Imperious," the villain corrected. "This is not the place. We will meet again. Next time, I will finish you off for good!" He vanished, causing the rangers to relax. Udonna hugged her old friend as Hunter wrapped Maggie in his arms, glad she was safe.

Things were hopefully going to be peaceful for a bit.

* * *

A/N: Not much to say. Thanks to those who read and review. Don't worry, I will write in battles more often.

**Important: **Bad news. Unfortunately, my reason for not updating this story yesterday is two reasons: I had my senior pictures which took far longer than they should have, and two, the hard drive on my laptop blew, causing me to have the Geek Squad at my local Best Buy fix it. When it blew, I was working on chapter 24 of House Of Rangers (which is why there more than likely won't be an update on that until next week) and lost everything I had of it. Thankfully, all my other fics and what I have done of them so far is on a flashdrive, and I have two other computers at home until I can get my laptop back.

Also, updates until after June 28 will be slow, since all next week I will be preparing for the Relay For Life (which I have to bake 8 dozen of my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies, make friendship bracelets with names of loved ones on it for my teammates to wear in support, decorating Luminaria bags, and whatnot), I have finals to study for the following week, and I can't always use the other two computers in my house since my brother is constantly using the one with sound to play Minecraft (a game i despise), and the other one does not have sound.

Hopefully, I will get back to updating soon, and I will try to get a House of Rangers chapter out this week.

**New Stories Coming Up:**

This One's For the Girls - Pretty Little Liars and Glee crossover. Will be posted around August 10, 2013.

New Girl - New PR series (see profile for info, under Mixed Hearts series). Post date: around June 29, 2013.


	15. Inner Strength

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 15: Inner Strength**

_A/N: So here's a new chapter. I will include fight scenes in future chapters, maybe this one as well. I'm not exactly good at writing those in, so that's why there hasn't been many. I will add more in, though. Anyway, now that Daggeron is a part of the team, how well will he fit in with the rangers? Also, another sign of Maggie having a nervous breakdown appears. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week after Daggeron had joined the rangers, the seven younger members found themselves morphed, ready for their training session in magic. Daggeron was going to help them strengthen their magic abilities. To start off, the group was inside some sort of room with stone pillars and fog covering a tiled floor. "This training exercise is harder than it looks," Daggeron began. Brooms were flying all around the room. "Ready to begin?"

"Ready!"

"Excellent," Daggeron gave the okay. With magi staffs drawn, they aimed and fired at the brooms. "Now capture the practice brooms. Descend." With a snap of his fingers, the brooms that had been captured floated down to the rangers, each one grabbing the one belonging to them. Only Xander's broom was left floating around the room. He chased after it as Daggeron congratulated the others.

"It's not working!" Xander groaned. Everyone else rolled their eyes. "What is wrong?"

"Give it to me," the knight instructed. He took the staff and aimed, firing. The broom floated down and landed in his hands. He turned to the green ranger. "Didn't you practice for this assignment?"

Nick decided to help. "He had a date last night."

"The others found time to practice," Daggeron pointed out. "You have to work harder. Training is over for now." As he said this, the rangers felt themselves leaving the mini training room and reappearing full size in Rootcore next to Clare and Jenji. None of them were morphed at the moment. "I expected better from you."

* * *

After lunch, the rangers were in their regular uniforms, standing before Daggeron as they awaited their next assignment. Instead of using the mini room again, they were in the woods. No one knew what the knight had in mind for training, and none of them – aside from maybe Xander – seemed to mind. Daggeron faced them all. "Today, you'll be running an obstacle course of sorts."

"It's not gonna be one where we have to race through, is it?" Hunter asked.

"What's the matter Hunter?" Maggie smirked, knowing why he asked. "Afraid to be beaten by a girl again?"

"Considering you and Tori have in every single obstacle course training we did, yes," he nodded, not afraid to admit it.

Daggeron shook his head. "Your objective is to find and retrieve seven flags. The course has been designed to challenge each of your magical strengths."

"So we have to use our powers?" Xander raised an eyebrow. "But that gives Maggie and Hunter an unfair advantage."

"How?" Maggie looked at him. "We can't help that our mystic powers match our ninja ones." Daggeron looked at the green ranger as well.

"Let's hope you do better than you did in the broom training." He walked away.

"This guy's really getting on my nerves," Xander grumbled.

Hunter scoffed. "What's your problem with him, anyway?"

"Why does he think he can come in here and tell us what to do?" Xander retorted. "He just showed up out of nowhere."

"So?" Maddie shrugged. "Udonna wants him to train us."

"It's not just me," Xander defended himself. "Chip doesn't like him either."

"What are you talking about?" the yellow ranger frowned before grinning. "I think he's great."

Vida added her piece. "You're just mad because he embarrassed you. Get over yourself."

* * *

None of them knew what order they were going to go for the flags in. Daggeron had elaborated that they would need to be morphed, which they now were, and that they'd be going after the flag in their color and symbol. He had said that Maggie and Hunter would have a tougher challenge than the others, having more experience with powers in general. As they approached the created ocean, Maddie grinned. "That flag has my name on it."

She drew her staff and hopped on the water, using her powers to shoot the flag up and over to her as she leapt for it. She snatched it up and joined the others. From there, they found themselves back in the forest, spotting a pink flag floating around in the wind. "This one's mine," Vida stepped forward. "Magi staff, tornado power!"

Turning into a pink blur, she flew up and grabbed the flag before descending. After that, the rangers headed into a cave where they were greeted by a giant pile of rocks blocking their path. Chip grinned as he looked on the ground and spotted a yellow flag. "Hey, there's mine. Magi staff, lightning power!"

He exploded the rocks using lighting, allowing him to grab his flag. They moved onto finding Maggie's flag. Soon enough, they found the orange flag with one of the fire symbols on it trapped in an ice cube that was hovering above the water. Expecting her to make a move to grab it, the others turned to look at her. Maggie stared blankly at the scene before her, an unpleasant picture coming to mind.

Hunter placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to snap her out of whatever she was in. Instead of doing that, she let out a bit of a startled yelp and grabbed the hand, flipping him onto his back while managing to knee him badly where it was most painful. The blonde instantly demoprhed and began coughing, having the wind knocked out of him. The others gaped in shock.

Without a word, she turned her back and headed away, demorphing in the process. She quickened her pace so she was almost ninja streaking, and everyone watched as she walked away from the challenge. "What was that about?" Nick asked.

"No idea," Hunter sighed. "It's possible something about this triggered a bad memory, but I'm not sure how that would cause her to walk away." After knowing Maggie for a few years, he knew that unless told otherwise that she would not be allowed to for any medical reason, the brunette would never back down from a fight.

"We'll go after her," Vida offered before Hunter could add anything else. Grabbing her sister's arm, the two girls ran after their older sister.

* * *

After chasing their sister for a few minutes, Vida and Maddie finally found her sitting on a log, arms wrapped around herself and rocking back and forth a bit. The two girls shared a look, not sure of what was happening. Carefully, they each took a seat on either side of her. Vida made the first move of reaching out and touching her shoulder. "Maggie, you okay?" she called softly. The pink ranger figured where Hunter was down because of the injury Maggie had caused him and she and Maddie were the only other two to know of Maggie's past, they should be the ones to talk to her.

"Even when he's not here he still manages to haunt me," the brunette spoke in breaths, her voice shaky. "He's not going to stop until he sees me dead."

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Maddie frowned.

"He told me that himself," Maggie revealed. "He told me he murdered his sister and wanted to do the same to me because I reminded him so much of her."

"We won't let him hurt you, Maggie," Vida assured, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders. "And I'm sure Hunter wouldn't let him near you and the rest of your family who cares about you and knows won't let him near you."

"But why did you freeze up during training?" Maddie wondered.

Maggie began explaining, not moving her eyes from the ground and she started shaking a bit. "My father was a water ninja. When he killed his sister, he caught her off guard when she was surfing. He dragged her to a highly secluded area on the beach, and he said he did the same things to her that he did to me the night he attacked me. Except with his sister, he suffocated her afterward by drowning her in water, using his powers to do so. He managed to smuggle her body away from everyone and hide it for years until Lily found it preserved pretty well at a dig site two years ago."

"And seeing the flag floating above the water triggered you seeing that," the blue ranger concluded. Maggie slowly nodded.

"I know what will help you feel better," Vida smirked. "You go home and relax, and tomorrow, we'll have a girls day. Just us three and the rest of your sisters, however many that may be."

"Come on," Maddie added. "It'll be worth it." Both stood and helped the brunette to her feet before escorting her out of the woods.

* * *

The next morning, six of the seven rangers found themselves in the Rock Porium. Vida, Maddie, and Maggie were all waiting for the other girls they had invited out into a girls day to show up. No one had seen Hunter since the previous night, not even Maggie. Five of the six present in the store stood around a chair that held a sleeping Xander. Chip grinned. "Xander's learned a new spell code – sonic disruption."

"Time for a little payback," Vida smirked. She dropped the crate in her hands on the floor, causing a loud boom as it hit the ground. Xander immediately jumped awake and stood, getting ready to fight. He let out a breath of relief upon seeing it was only his friends, which were now laughing. Hunter came walking into the store to stand with them, feeling extremely sore from the previous day. With him was a red head Maggie knew.

"What happened to you?" Maggie asked as he stood next to her. She knew what happened, but he seemed to know what she meant. The red head whispered in Maggie's ear, knowing that Hunter didn't need the others knowing. Maggie found herself covering her mouth in shock and turning to Hunter. "Oh my god, I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," he shook his head. "Leanne said it would be fine after a while. Besides, I figured this had something to do with…"

"Yeah," she bit her lip. "Still…" Hunter hugged her as the others watched confused. Vida and Maddie rolled their eyes.

"Are you okay?" Chip returned the conversation to the green ranger as a group of three blondes walked into the store, going to stand by Maggie.

Xander sighed. "Yeah, I've just been up all night. Guys, you have to agree. Daggeron's got to go." Since his back was to the door, he didn't realize the man in question, wearing normal clothes, was entering the store and overheard this. "And I know what it is. He singled me out 'cause of my good looks." From where they stood, Maggie and the other girls couldn't help but giggle at his stupidity. The other mystics looked rather amused. "He's probably just jealous 'cause he can't get a date of his own. He's overbearing. He's petty." He noted the looks on the others faces. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

Xander turned and frowned, realizing Daggeron was there.

"You're all coming with me on a very special assignment," Daggeron stated.

"But what about girls' day?" Vida frowned.

"They're welcome to join as well," Daggeron nodded. He had been filled in about what the girls were planning to do, and they had said that the girls coming over were either former rangers who still had some sort of power or knew the rangers and had some sort of way to defend themselves should they run into trouble. "We're going on a field trip."

They followed him to the door, the girls lagging behind. Maggie was happy that Tori, Leanne, Kira, and Lily had all been able to make it down. The only ones who hadn't been able to were Kelly, because she was away on vacation, and Skyla, because now she was twenty five weeks pregnant and she and Shane were busy planning their wedding. Penny was watching Bentley for the day so they could have the girls' day.

Daggeron punched one of his cards and the storefront turned into a glowing train station. They all exited the shop to find a train pulling to a stop before them. "That's a huge ass train," Lily went wide eyed, staring in awe.

"How come we never got anything cool like this?" Tori pouted.

"All aboard!" Chip yelled as the giant group made it closer to the train. As usual, he responded with his line as the others gave him odd looks. "Sorry. I always wanted to say that."

"I feel like I should start recording how many times you say that," Maggie mused as they boarded. A few minutes later, they pulled out of the station and were shooting off into another direction.

* * *

The train landed and Daggeron had led the rangers and group of girls out into the vast area of open land. They ended up on a jungle like sort of place, which seemed pretty cool to most of them. After arriving, Daggeron had them change into the proper attire for the land they were on, which resulted in all the rangers wearing new outfits. "This is the magical dimension of Shalifar. You need appropriate clothing because you're going to be staying here a while."

"You're gonna leave us here like this?" Xander raised an eyebrow.

"How long you are here is up to you," Daggeron continued. He held up a card, a picture of a train on it. "This is your way out." He tossed it far off in the distance. "You must find ticket. It will summon the train and bring you back home."

"This is ridiculous," Xander huffed.

"Whoa, Daggeron," Jenji stopped the knight. "You sure about this?"

Daggeron turned to the group. "If you don't like it, all you have to do is find the ticket."

"You can't leave them here!" Jenji protested. "What will they eat? More to the point, what will eat them?"

"Good luck rangers," Daggeron wished. He walked back over to them. "Oh, and a couple more things. To make this more of a challenge, split up into two teams, guys versus girls." The girls all grinned and high fived while Hunter got a feeling that told him this was not going to end well. "I'll also take your morphers."

"Figures," Xander scoffed as the others handed theirs over. Tori, Kira, Lily, Maggie, and Hunter all kept their other morphers, since those morphers didn't have power. Xander added his to the pile. Daggeron and Jenji left the rangers alone. Right away, Tori, Leanne, and Maggie grabbed the other four girls and streaked off with them, getting a head start on the guys.

* * *

"So why does Hunter look like he can't walk?" Kira wondered, having noticed the pain the older man was in earlier. Vida and Maddie laughed as Maggie looked embarrassed. They had been there when it happened, and they knew. Leanne couldn't help the small smirk that appeared on her face, seeing as she was the one to heal him.

"Mags, did you do something to…" Lily began asking, noting the looks on the four girls' faces. All four nodded. "What happened?"

"He startled me during training yesterday," the brunette spoke. "And I flipped him onto his back, kneeing him where it hurt most…"

"Something triggered a bad memory?" Tori concluded, realizing this must've been where it was headed. Maggie nodded.

Leanne finished up. "So he came to me and told me what happened. Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

"Leanne, we're just friends," Maggie rolled her eyes. Tori, Kira, Lily, Vida, and Maddie knew this to be a lie. They had all seen the relationship between the orange and crimson rangers, since Maggie had told them. She had told them that they were keeping it secret from anyone who didn't know, which included Leanne, Cam, Shane, Dustin, Skyla, and Blake. "Nothing more, nothing less. We can't help that we're both rangers again and we can't help that Kelly asked both of us to open up the new Storm Chargers."

"All right," Leanne sighed. The others were surprised that someone as smart as her couldn't piece it together. "Whatever."

"So how are we gonna find this ticket thing?" Maddie questioned before they felt the ground shake a bit and a loud roar coming from the other end of the jungle.

"Anyone else wanna bet that the guys got into trouble?" Vida smirked.

"Come on," Kira shook her head. "Let's try and find the ticket. They're big boys. They can handle themselves."

Leanne nodded. "We need a plan."

"We all have powers we can use to defend ourselves," Lily stated. "I got my elasticity, Kira's got her scream, Maggie has her fire and shrinking abilities, Tori and Maddie have the water powers, Leanne's got her thunder skills, and Vida has her tornado power."

"Which we should use to help us get through here," Maggie piped in. Leanne found a stick and began drawing in the open space of dirt.

"We knew he threw the card somewhere over there," Vida pointed behind her shoulder. "So we should head that way."

"Leah, any ideas?" Tori looked to the red head as she finished the drawing. Leanne and Maggie stared at it for a few moments before grinning.

"Follow us," Leanne led the way, the others following behind.

* * *

"Figures they would end up like this," Leanne laughed quietly as she and the other girls were hiding in the bushes. From where they were, they could see Hunter, Nick, and Chip tied up by rope, a field of giant fruit trees before them, and Xander trying to convince the giant of something. The girls knew that they had found what they were looking for, but they were too distracted by the scene to think clearly.

"Too bad we don't got a camera," Tori sighed. The giant dropped the rope around the other guys, freeing them. The giant held out the ticket they were looking for. Smirking, the three ninjas streaked out past the group of guys and snatched the card away from them, the other girls laughing as they joined the guys. Tori, Leanne, and Maggie walked over, ticket in hand.

"Thanks dude," Maggie grinned up at the giant, who nodded in return. "Well, let's get home!"

With that, the rangers set off for home.

* * *

A/N: Well, old characters appeared and I got this chapter done and over. Only a couple more chapters until the Dark Wish arc, which I cannot wait for. I think those are my favorite three episodes in this season.

So my laptop is repaired and running again, which means I can work on more fics. Also, has anyone ever watched the TV show Zoom? I used to love that show as a kid!


	16. Soul Specter

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 16: Soul Specter**

_A/N: I'm not going to have Chip be the one who needs saving in this episode. There will be fight scenes in this one, I promise. So if it's not Chip who has needs saving, then who is it? And who comes to their rescue? What'll happen in this chapter? I'm not going to have old faces appear for another couple of chapters, maybe not until after the Dark Wish arc._

_Also, this is the halfway mark of this story (unless I decide to add fillers between this one and the final chapter). _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

The rangers were all in Rootcore, doing various things. Nick, Vida, and Maggie were watching Jenji toss lettuce heads at Fire Heart, who was eating them happily. Maddie was doing some studying on spells. Hunter found himself on the phone with his brother, talking about the upcoming grand opening of the new Storm Chargers.

Chip was feeling a bit down about what had happened in the morning fight they had against Necrolai and a new monster. This monster was able to harvest life forces, which was something new. However, there was another monster known as Spydex helping the other monster, Gnatu. They ended up gathering life forces, rendering the people useless as their bodies lay on the grass in the park.

"See anything Xander?" he asked, running over to where the green ranger was searching for things on the computer.

"No," he shook his head. "No traces of dark magic anywhere in the city."

"Madison?" Chip ran to the blue ranger.

"No spells that can help restore those people's life-force," she replied, knowing what he was going to ask.

"Keep looking," he urged.

Daggeron came over to the boy. "Chip, we're doing everything we can to help those people. This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," the yellow ranger argued. "I was supposed to protect them and I blew it." He walked away from the older man as Daggeron turned to the rangers watching Jenji feed the dragon. The feline tossed another mini head of lettuce, which Maggie had shrunk down to a size big enough for Fire Heart.

"He sure is hungry," Vida commented.

"Maybe you're feeding him too much," Nick suggested.

"Well I've always found it pays to give a dragon all he wants to eat," Udonna smirked. "Before he wants to eat you."

"Yikes!" Jenji went slightly wide eyed. "Uh, open wide!" he tossed the remaining pieces of food at the dragon, who jumped back a bit as the group laughed. They stopped short when they noticed Nick clutch his head in pain. Though it had been a while since this had happened, they knew what it meant.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked as she and Vida looked at him.

Nick looked to Daggeron. "It's Koragg. He wants to fight you."

"Fight Koragg?" Jenji raised an eyebrow.

"Very well," Daggeron nodded. "Tell him to meet me in the twilight dimension."

"Be careful," Udonna warned. "Koragg is a fierce warrior."

"I can handle him," the knight assured. "Remember, I was taught by the best." He quickly morphed before vanishing in his train, Jenji accompanying him.

Xander got their attention. "Guys, we've got action too."

* * *

"Over there!" Nick pointed as the rangers rode their mystic racers to the battle scene. Xander had given them where they had to go now that the monsters reappeared in the city. They still hadn't figured out a way to prevent them from harming people aside from fighting them off, but it was worth a shot. They all hopped down and looked around the area, not spotting anything yet.

"The dark magic's signal was right around here," Xander stated. From behind them, Spydex used a web to fall down and appear behind the rangers. They all jumped and got ready to fight, Chip especially.

"I'll get you this time!" he vowed. Spydex shot them down before they could move. They were still standing, and Chip was the first one to charge. He knocked Spydex down and the two rolled into another part of the area.

"I'll get the life force," Hunter offered. "Magi staff!" he zapped the back of the monster, causing a ball of light to fly up. Chip flew after it, catching it in his hands.

"Good one Hunter," he thanked. Out of nowhere, the ball was snatched out of his hands. Chip looked up to see Gnatu holding it.

"You snooze you lose," she taunted as the others joined him. "Spydex?" she tossed it to her partner in crime, who caught it and began walking away.

Once again, before anyone could do anything, Chip ran after him. The other six followed quickly after, chasing the monster to another street. By the time they found Spydex, they had used their mystic racers to chase him all around the city, finally stopping on roofs across the street from each other. Well, the rangers landed on the roof while Spydex created a web connecting surrounding buildings for him to land on.

"You up for this Xander?" Nick asked. Xander nodded. "Come on guys. We can do this!"

"I'll protect the web," Chip offered.

Maggie stepped on it first. Considering she was the lightest of the rangers, it would make sense that she went first to make sure it could hold under her weight. Cautiously, balancing herself so she wouldn't fall, she began slowly making her way across the web. Hunter followed after her on the same rope, Nick and Xander taking one and Maddie and Vida taking another. Chip stayed behind, ready to catch them if need be. Spydex fired, and Maggie put up a fire shield around all of them so they wouldn't lose their balance.

However, Xander lost his anyway and ended up holding onto the web with one hand. One of the spikes Spydex fired hit the rope just before hitting the shield, cutting the rope in two. Vida and Maddie went falling and Xander jumped after them, saving them from being injured in the fall. Nick, Maggie, and Hunter made it to the monster, having a bit more balance on the wider part of the web. Spydex managed to send the three flying. Using his magi staff, Nick turned tables and chairs below into mattresses for them to fall onto.

After landing safely on the ground, the rangers regrouped and looked up, watching as Chip used this chance to challenge Spydex. He managed to send Spydex down, flying down with him and pounding the monster into the ground. Unfortunately for the rangers, Spydex grew.

"Nice work," Hunter commented as they reached the yellow ranger. Combining their powers, the rangers formed their megazord to take down Spydex. Spydex fired and they ducked before swinging their sword at him. Spydex hit the ground back first, causing a ball of souls to fly out. The ball rolled on the ground, and with Spydex down, the rangers all ran toward it, their morph gone. Just before they could reach it, they were shot down.

"I'll take that," Gnatu appeared, picking it up. She flew away, taking Spydex with her as the rangers got up.

"Great," Xander huffed. "We lost him again."

"Hey, what's this?" Maggie found a black bottle oddly shaped and held it up for everyone to see. They turned and gathered around her.

Maddie saw her sister was about to open it. "Wait, I don't think you should…"

"It's the only way to figure out what it is," Maggie interrupted. She opened it, causing a black cloud to emit from it. Everyone took a few steps back. Before anyone knew what had happened, the cloud was gone and Maggie was on the ground in pain. Hunter immediately ran over and knelt by her as did Vida and Maddie, the other guys following.

"Look," Vida pulled up her sister's shirt revealing where her belly should've been. Instead of it being what it should've been, a black hole like thing was in its place. Vida pulled the shirt back down as Necrolai approached.

The vampire smirked. "It's a soul specter. Bye-bye, orange ranger." She flew off, cackling as she vanished.

* * *

"Udonna, what's happening to her?" Maddie questioned the sorceress who had just come out of Rootcore. On their way, they had called ahead to let Udonna know there was something wrong with Maggie. She no longer looked like she was in pain, but more so like she was sick. Hunter and Vida were supporting her as they walked.

"Let me see," Udonna ordered. Maggie stood on her own and lifted up her shirt slightly so Udonna could see. "A soul specter." Maggie put her shirt back down. "The specter is devouring her soul from the inside."

"There's gotta be a way to get that thing out of her," Vida looked nervous as Maggie lost her footing and stumbled back into Hunter, who caught her.

Daggeron appeared. "The Staff of Topaz is the only thing that can draw out a soul specter."

"Where is it?" Hunter demanded.

"Let's go get it," Nick started moving forward.

"No," Daggeron denied. "Briarwood is under attack. You need to stay here. Hunter and I will take her to the staff."

"Daggeron, the staff is at the top of Mount Isis," Udonna stated. "You know what a treacherous journey that is."

* * *

Daggeron, Hunter, and Maggie were making their way up Mount Isis to reach the staff. Hunter was helping Maggie climb, seeing as she was having great difficulty. He knew that she would have problems with this. Daggeron was leading the way up, going at a good enough pace for the two ninjas to follow. The mountain was extremely steep, making it more difficult. When they reached a part that wasn't steep, they followed Daggeron as he led the way. Maggie stumbled and fell on her butt, breathing heavily.

"Maggie, you okay?" Hunter crouched down beside her, putting his hand on her back. She was clutching her head.

"I don't think I can make it," she breathed out. Daggeron heard this and joined the other two, taking a seat near them.

"When I was training to be a knight," he began. "I can't tell you the number of times I wanted to quit. But my teacher never left me. Now, I wouldn't be a very good teacher if I let my student give up…"

"I'm not giving up," Maggie shook her head, only to regret it a moment later. "I've got too much to fight for now to give up. I've been through worse. I've practically come back from the dead before."

Hunter and Daggeron looked at her. "How?"

"When I was in the hospital for a few months about five years ago," she explained. "My heart gave out for a few minutes and it took the doctors a little bit to get it pumping and working again." At least, that's what she had been told. "I meant that I don't think I can make it because I can hardly feel my legs."

"I'll help you," Hunter offered. "We gotta reach the top."

"Okay, but can we wait until this place stops spinning?" she pleaded. "I haven't been able to see straight since we stopped." Both men frowned. From what Daggeron knew of soul specters, they didn't cause dizziness.

Hunter got an idea. "How much of an effect would pain killers have on her right now?"

"There shouldn't be any," Daggeron frowned, not knowing what exactly the crimson ranger was getting at. "What do you…" he stopped when he saw Hunter opening a bottle of pain killers and giving a few pills to the orange ranger, who happily took them.

"We carry these around in case she needs them whenever she gets injured," the blonde explained. "We try to avoid giving her them for as long as possible because the side effects aren't pretty, but if it helps her in the long run, then it's better."

Hunter stood and picked Maggie up, the brunette climbing onto Hunter's back so he could carry her. Daggeron stood as well, heading off and leading the way once more.

* * *

After walking for a few more miles or so, they came to a rocky clearing at the top of the mountain. They continued walking toward where they saw the staff, Hunter still carrying Maggie. The pain killers didn't seem to be taking effect on her yet. "There it is," Daggeron pointed to a staff with a whitish gem at the top sticking out of the ground. "The Staff of Topaz." He walked over to grab it as Hunter gently set Maggie down, the brunette immediately curling up into a ball.

"Not so fast, knight," Koragg appeared, shooting Daggeron down before he could reach the staff. Hunter stood and joined Daggeron, ready to fight as well.

"She doesn't have much time," he growled. "Give us the staff!"

"You want it?" Koragg challenged. "You'll have to take it from me."

"Not a problem," Daggeron breathed. Koragg fired at the two. When the cloud of dust vanished, neither Daggeron nor Hunter was in sight. This confused Koragg before Daggeron kicked him back and Hunter joined in the fight. The two guys became engaged in a battle against the villain, Maggie watching from her spot on the ground where she lay in pain.

* * *

Maggie woke up to find bright lights and a white room surrounding her. The last thing she had remembered before passing out was Daggeron holding the Staff of Topaz and Hunter watching as the soul specter was lifted from her. She passed out somewhere in the process, but she wasn't sure where. Actually, she didn't even know what had happened. Her memory was fuzzy. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could tell she was in a hospital and she saw a couple red heads standing on either side of her bed.

"About time you woke up," the first one, the shorter of the two red heads, commented. "We were getting worried."

"What happened?" Maggie groaned, not feeling like moving.

"I got a call from Hunter saying you passed out during the removal process of a soul specter," Leanne explained. "He wanted me to make sure nothing too bad happened."

"Soul specter?" she frowned. "What's that?"

Kelly looked at Leanne before turning back to the brunette on the bed. "Mags, what's the very last clear thing you remember?"

"Talking with Lily's grandparents about how living arrangements were going to work now that Hunter and I are heading to Briarwood to start setting up the new Storm Chargers like you asked," she replied. "Why?"

"No reason," the shop owner shot the other doctor a glare.

Leanne sighed. "We're gonna need to run some tests."

* * *

After finding out the only things Maggie didn't remember was everything that had happened after hers and Hunter's arrival in Briarwood, Leanne was ready to tell Hunter the news. Since he had brought her in and Maggie was his teammate and housemate at the moment, he needed to know, since he would be taking care of her during her recovery. She found him sitting in the lobby, Penny and Bentley with him. As soon as the three saw her, they stood up.

"How is she?" Penny asked.

"Physically and emotionally, she's perfectly fine," Leanne began. "But she's not okay mentally."

"What do you mean by that?" Hunter frowned.

"The combined effect from the soul specter, the pain meds, and the removal of the soul specter left her with a temporary amnesia," the red head stated. "She remembers everything, every piece of her life, from before you guys moved to Briarwood. The day you guys moved to Briarwood to now is completely out of her mind."

"How temporary is this?" Hunter wondered. "I mean, she'll have it back soon enough for her to be fighting again, right?"

Leanne nodded. "The effects should wear off completely within a week. Pieces of her memory of being in Briarwood will come back. Just, until they do, keep her away from anyone she won't recognize, like that Nick guy and anyone else both of you met after moving there."

* * *

A/N: So Maggie's got a bit of memory issues. Don't worry, she'll be fine in the next chapter. I only gave her amnesia because I got an idea for the next chapter, but in order for it to work, she needed to not be able to remember some things.

I am exhausted, but since it has been like a week since any of my stories have been updated, I decided to update today. Don't expect another update until Friday, since I will be studying for finals all this week and applying for jobs.

I am tired because I spent 27 hours staying awake (from 5:30 Friday morning to 8:30 Saturday morning) because I was participating in the Relay For Life. My team raised over $5,000 for the American Cancer Society, and I had a good time with my friends, including one who walked in the survivors lap. Anyway, hopefully I will update earlier than Friday, but it is doubtful I will.

Thanks to readers and reviewers!


	17. Ranger Down

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 17: Ranger Down**

_A/N:Last time, Maggie had her soul being eaten away by a soul specter and as a result of a few things colliding, she lost a bit of her memory. So what'll happen when she has most of it back but still doesn't remember a few things, like the layout of Briarwood? Who will help her? Also, what problems will Jenji have this time?_

_This chapter may be a bit short._

_Also, there's going to be something in here that is going to be part of a future story (the samurai one when I get to it), and it'll only be for a couple chapters, maybe up until Koragg's Trial or until the end of Dark Wish._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

A week had passed and for the most part, Maggie had her full memory back. The only thing she was still having trouble with was names of a few people and how to get around in Briarwood, but aside from that, she was back to her normal self. It was a bright sunny day in the beginning of July, the summer just beginning. At the present moment, the rangers were all sitting around Rootcore, ready to fall asleep of boredom as they listened to Jenji tell yet another story.

"There I stood," he ranted. "Face to face with the dreaded pirate half nose. Despite having my paws tied and being made to walk the plank…"

"You free yourself," Chip interrupted excitedly. "And beat him with your sword!"

"I had no sword," Jenji corrected. "I was armed with only my cunning, my bravery, and a little trick I picked up in cat mandu. I like to call it my super cat attack."

"Super cat attack?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

Clare ran into the room, holding Fire Heart in her arms. "He roared! Fire Heart just roared for the first time!" The rangers ran over to her and the dragon.

"But I wasn't finished," Jenji pouted.

"What did it sound like?" Xander asked. "Was it loud and bellowy or rough and growly?"

"Well, it kinda sounded like," Clare bit her lip before imitating what she heard. "And then he let out a little puff of smoke."

Behind them, Jenji huffed. "Oh look. the dragon did this. The dragon did that. Dragons…you can't live with them. You can't dump them in a moat. I think I may cough up a fur ball."

* * *

After leaving Rootcore, all the rangers went to work. Hunter and Maggie went to the new Storm Chargers to finish setting up for the grand opening meant to take place. Thankfully, during the summer months, Lily came to live with her sister, which at least gave them an employee for the summer. Penny was to work year round there, after school hours. Hunter and Maggie knew working here would be tough with their ranger duties, but both had taken on that task once before.

"There's a huge crowd out there," Maggie noticed as she walked out of the back room and spotted the crowd at the front door. "Think we can handle it?"

"Penny's on the register, Lily's handling customer service stuff, and we're fixing the bikes unless we're needed elsewhere," Hunter stated. "I think we're good to go."

"Kelly's not here yet for it though," Lily pointed out as she entered the room after dropping her nephew off at the daycare center. "She said she was going to be here to make sure you guys didn't screw it up."

Maggie glared at her sister. "Lils, would we screw this up and face her wrath?"

"You? No," Lily shook her head. "Hunter? Yes."

"Gee, thanks," the older blonde scoffed.

Penny walked over and joined them. "Should we let the crowd in? They're looking kind of antsy."

"I'll let them in," Maggie nodded. "Stations everyone. It's going to be a long day."

* * *

"The whole freaking city was there," Maggie groaned as she and Hunter headed into Rootcore. "Seriously, how many people in this city are obsessed with action sports? Blue Bay doesn't have nearly that many." They hadn't been able to escape the giant crowd from the grand opening to go and fight, but now that the crowd had died down to a point where only a couple people were needed, the two rangers were able to head to Rootcore.

"Briarwood is a lot smaller than Blue Bay," the crimson ranger pointed out. "And the numbers are roughly the same."

"Whatever," Maggie rolled her eyes.

Udonna heard them speak as they entered Rootcore and looked to them. "Have either of you seen Fire Heart?" she had just asked Nick, Chip, and Maddie the same question, getting answers that didn't seem right.

"Not since this morning," Maggie shook her head. "Why?"

"He's gone missing," the sorceress stated. "Clare is beside herself, combing the forest. If he falls into the wrong hands before he reaches adulthood, he could…"

"Jenji," Daggeron interrupted, sensing the cat trying to sneak away behind them. They all turned to him. "What have you done?"

"Well, uh…" the cat backed away nervously.

* * *

As soon as the rangers returned back to Rootcore once more, meeting with Vida and Xander on their way, they began searching for the dragon using the computer systems. Jenji took off on his own, disappearing for a while. All the rangers were desperate to find Fire Heart and Jenji, but they were more concerned with the baby dragon, considering he couldn't fend for himself just yet. "No sign of Fire Heart," Vida sulked.

"And I've got more bad news too," Daggeron approached them. "Jenji is gone, too."

"What?" Maggie frowned.

"Well, maybe he's looking for Fire Heart," Hunter suggested, only to receive a smack upside the head from his girlfriend a moment later.

Daggeron shook his head. "I don't think so. He left a note. 'I'm not looking for Fire Heart, I'm running away. No one cares about me. Your ex-friend, Jenji."

"This is our fault," Maddie sighed. "We were spending so much time with Fire Heart we forgot about Jenji."

"It's something he's familiar with," Daggeron explained. "You see, Jenji was banished from his homeland, cast away by the ones he loved the most."

"Who would banish Jenji?" Chip wondered. "He's great."

"Jenji was the strongest and most popular cat in the land," Daggeron continued. "Rexigan, the very jealous king cat, had a witch cast a spell over the entire village, convincing everyone that Jenji was evil. Everyone turned their backs on Jenji, and he was banished. When I met Jenji, he was a wandering nomad, all alone. If Jenji doesn't return to the lamp within two hours, he'll be lost forever."

The crystal ball alerted their attention. "Necrolai is back. Go, rangers."

"You guys go," Maggie bit her lip. "I'm gonna go look for Jenji."

* * *

A group of six ninjas, all in similar uniforms but outlined in different colors, found themselves wandering through an alleyway, masks on. Their mother and father had sent them back in time to help with their protection, and only one of them was more pissed than the others about it. The oldest of the group, at roughly twenty four years old, was leading his brother and sisters through a city familiar to him. Their mother put him in charge, since he knew more about what was happening in their time.

"Bentley, we need to stop," the fire ninja with them spoke to the ice ninja. "We've been walking around for hours and our legs are getting sore."

"Karen, if we don't keep moving, we won't be able to find what we need here and get out," Bentley grumbled.

"Look, we know you're pissed," the earth ninja crossed her arms over her chest. "But mom did what was best for us."

"Summer, you don't get it," Bentley growled.

The thunder ninja rolled her eyes. "Calm down, bro. Mom's doing what she thinks is best for us. Besides, without us coming back here to do this, who knows what will happen?"

"Aubrey's right," the air ninja spoke. "She sent us to get a different object from each time period that was in her possession."

"Aiden…"

"Ben, don't deny it," the water ninja cut her brother off. "Look, we get that you have a wife and kid to look after, but right now, we need to do this. Mom promised you she would make sure nothing would happen to either of them, and when has she ever broken promises to us?"

Bentley sighed and removed his mask. "Fine. But only for a little while. The sooner we get this done, the better." He had his mother's green eyes and his birth father's dark hair. He was only twenty four, and unlike his younger siblings, he had been born before the start of his mother's ranger career. If his memory was right, then he would be five years old in this time.

The other ninjas removed their masks as well. Aubrey, the thunder ninja, had her father's blonde hair with a bit of her mother's curly brown hair mixed in as well as her father's hazel eyes, only seventeen years old. She was the second oldest of all of them. The next two were twins, Aiden (the air ninja) and Alexa (the water ninja). Aiden was the spitting image of his father, same hair, same eyes, nearly same everything. Alexa was the same way but with her mother's looks. Both were only fifteen. Then came the twins Summer (the earth ninja) and Karen (the fire ninja). Both looked like the perfect mix of both their parents, and the only way to tell them apart was that Summer had blonde straight hair while Karen had brown curly hair. The two youngest were only thirteen.

Unbeknownst to them, Jenji had been listening in from the moment they neared the garbage pile. However, they only realized it when they heard a familiar voice shouting for the cat. Slowly, they turned their heads to see the younger version of their mother walking toward the cat.

"How'd you find me?" the cat demanded, forgetting about the teens for a moment. "Or better question – why'd you find me?"

"Jenji, you've got to get back to the lamp," Maggie sighed. She had spotted the kids when she was walking toward the cat. She saw them trying to put their ninja masks on and turned to them. "Those won't help you much since I've already seen your faces." She turned back to Jenji. "If you don't get back in that lamp…"

"Like you guys care," the feline scoffed.

"Jenji, how can you say that?" the brunette raised an eyebrow.

"You guys made it quite clear that you like that smoke belching scaly faced skinny winged can't-even-purr-if-you-paid-him dragon more than me.," he explained.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I know it may feel that way, but it's not true. We love you, Jenji. We were paying attention a lot to Fire Heart, and forgot about you, forgot about your feelings."

"Yes, you did," Jenji nodded.

"Besides, my son loves hanging around you whenever I bring him to Rootcore," Maggie stated. With the group of ninjas, the teen ones turned to their oldest brother, smirks growing on their faces. "He keeps telling me he wants to get a talking cat as a pet when he's older."

"Really?" Jenji frowned. Maggie nodded.

"If you ask him," she motioned toward the ice ninja. "He won't deny it."

Bentley was shocked. When their mother sent them back in time, they weren't supposed to speak to anyone or reveal who they were to anyone. "I don't know what you're talking about, lady."

"Please," Maggie scoffed. "Bentley, I'd recognize your face anywhere, any age. I know that you and whoever you people are time traveled somehow and for something. Don't even bother denying it." She turned back to Jenji. "Next time, talk about your problems. Doing this is no better than what Rexigan did to you."

"You're right," Jenji sighed. "I let you all down. I deserve what's about to happen to me."

"Nothing's going to happen to you if you just…" she was interrupted by her morpher. The ninjas used this as their chance to get away, each one ninja streaking out of sight. The last one to go blew a dust over the two in the alleyway before following the others. Maggie and Jenji no longer remembered the ninjas being there.

"_Maggie, we need your help," _Hunter's voice called.

"Guys, are you okay?" she called. "Where are you?" she shut the morpher and turned around, hoping to see if Jenji could help her. However, the cat was no longer there.

Maggie sighed. "Now, where do I go from here?"

* * *

Maggie found herself walking through the woods. She couldn't remember the layout of Briarwood, so she had no idea where she was going. She had just kept on walking around before finding herself back in the forest, trying to find a way out. Out of nowhere, she heard Clare's voice as the blonde got closer to her. Maggie turned to find her approaching. "Maggie?" she frowned. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"I'm kinda lost," she admitted. "Don't remember my way around quite yet." The two continued walking, calling for Fire Heart. They stopped when they ran into Phineas, the troblin startling them. Before they could speak, a loud roar cut them off, drawing their attention to something above them.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Phineas smiled.

"Holy crap," Maggie went wide eyed. "He's huge!"

* * *

After finally taking down the bird monster and Maggie regaining her full memory, the day was coming to an end. Night was creeping upon everyone and they were all at home, getting ready for bed for the night. Bentley was already asleep, and Penny and Lily were out having a sisters night. Maggie wanted to spend time with Hunter, so she declined the offer to join them.

Maggie and Hunter were curled up together on the couch, watching a movie they had rented. Both had a few things on their mind, and neither knew what the other was thinking. Maggie couldn't help but feel there was a small gap in her memory. Hunter was thinking about things he'd been thinking about for a while, but hadn't yet done anything about it.

Eventually, the two fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so sucky ending, I know. Anyway, up next is the Dark Wish arc, and Maggie's closer to having her breakdown. What'll happen with that, anyway?

Also, a couple things about my stories:

For my **House of Rangers **story, I've decided to turn that into a series. More info on it is on my profile.

I recently posted (as promised) a new story part of a new series called **New Girl, **and it's another Hunter/OC story. That is going to be updated on every other Saturday until I finish House of Rangers and this story.

I am thinking of doing another story to go up in August (maybe), and it will be about the MMPR, Zeo, and a little bit of Turbo (before the power switch), and all about choices each ranger had to make throughout their life just before, during, and after they hold the power. If people like it enough, then I might create stories for the rest of the teams, like Turbo (post power switch) and Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, SPD, Mystic Force, Operation Overdrive, Jungle Fury, and possibly Samurai. What do you guys think of this idea?


	18. Dark Wish Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 18: Dark Wish**

**Part I**

_A/N: Here's the start of the Dark Wish arc. What'll happen when the rangers lose their powers and Darkness takes over? What's up with everything in general for the rangers? I have Maggie's breakdown coming in soon, so don't worry. Anyway, let's get on with this chapter, shall we?_

_This chapter may be a bit short. This chapter may not be exactly like the episode._

_Remember Maggie and Shadow are the same person in this series._

_I also want to say that I have this, the sequel, the JF, and three stories post JF for this series currently written and completed. On the one I am working on now for this series, I am currently writing chapter 80. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show. _

* * *

It had been a couple weeks since the last attack, so the rangers had been enjoying some time off. Nothing had happened in the couple weeks aside from normal work schedules. Vida and Maddie were at the Rock Porium, helping Toby set up for the one year anniversary party. Hunter was with the other male rangers at Rootcore, hanging out and enjoying the day. Storm Chargers was closed for the afternoon.

Maggie, however, was dressed as Shadow as she stood around at a fancy party. Kira was there with Conner, and Lily was there by herself as well. The only reason Lily and Maggie didn't have date to the fancy party their grandmother was throwing to promote Kira and Shadow's new tour was because Shadow was known to not date and Lily didn't feel like asking someone to join her.

The three girls were talking in a circle, Conner seeming lost without his girlfriend with him. The three were all wearing dresses, which irritated Maggie even though she wasn't supposed to be herself. However, since the event was formal, they really had no choice. "So you left him to watch Bentley?" Kira raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I don't exactly trust anyone else to that's there," Maggie shrugged. "I mean, I would've asked Vida and Maddie to, but they're working, Penny's in Reefside, and the other guys I don't exactly trust with my kid."

"Why not?" Lily blinked.

"Have you met them?" Maggie retorted. "You got the flirt, the one who's like Dustin, and the mysterious guy. Not a good combination of influences on a five year old."

Kira chuckled. "And yet the brooding guy is supposedly a good one?"

"He already looks to Hunter as his father," Maggie sighed. "And Hunter treats him as his son."

Nana Chilman walked over to the girls, needing to speak to them. "You two," she pointed at Maggie and Kira. "Do you think you could perform a song to get this party going? I feel like everyone's falling asleep."

"Nana, we told you that parties like this can't be this formal," Lily pointed out.

"I know that now," the older woman groaned. "But please, just do this." Kira and Maggie shared a look before heading onto the stage, getting ready to sing. If it meant they got out of here faster, then the better. They motioned to the band behind them to start playing a song, and they did. As soon as it was their cue to sing, they began.

* * *

At Rootcore, Nick, Xander, Chip, Hunter, and Bentley were all sitting around, having sort of a guys day while the girls were off working. Bentley was being watched by Hunter, considering he was the only one who wasn't working that Maggie trusted her son with. "Now this is the life," Xander commented as he used magic to move a chess piece across the board. "Isn't magic grand?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "Except for all the fighting. There's gotta be an easier way to defeat evil."

"Unfortunately, no villain goes down without a bang," Hunter sighed. "Lothor was shot down into the abyss of evil only for Maggie to obliterate him when he came back and teamed up with the enemy. Mesogog was taken down pretty much single handedly by Maggie, but he mutated himself into, like, three or four different things."

"Maybe we can eat our way to victory," Chip suggested, hearing his stomach rumble. "Got any pizza, Udonna?"

"You can go to town for that," the older woman replied.

Chip snorted. "Why? There's an easier way." He pointed his wand at the table, a couple pizzas appearing. The guys all got up and walked over, beginning to pick at the pizza. Udonna did not look happy.

"There's a time and place for magic, rangers," she warned. As she walked away, Fire Heart roared.

"And a time and place to feed a dragon," Xander picked up one of the pizzas.

"Hey!" Bentley pouted as it was taken from his hands. Xander tossed it like a Frisbee into the den where Fire Heart was residing. The dragon let out a loud burp, causing the guys to laugh.

"He was hungry," Xander stated.

Clare walked out of the room, covered in pepperoni slices. "How about a little heads up next time, huh guys?"

"Hey, Clare, use your magic to clean," Nick suggested. "It's…way faster."

"Yeah, I guess so," she shrugged. "But I get a real feeling of accomplishment when I don't do it the old fashioned way. Hard work is really satisfying."

Daggeron ran into the room. "It seems we have work to do. Clare, have the girls meet us."

* * *

Maggie found herself at the Ember Academy after the party. She had classes to teach today, and since there were no more than six students, it was easy. Well, it wasn't easy when training them to use their powers, but teaching them in general was easy. She stood in front of the six sparring students, thinking about who would be the lucky two to become Senseis. She was in charge of the academy, but she needed a couple teachers to help her out.

She had gotten a call about a monster attack, but she wasn't going to help her team. She had brought up an important matter to Udonna, and the older woman helped her come up with an idea that would hopefully help teach them a lesson. Maggie had also discussed it with Hunter, but she told him to just follow the others on this.

She sighed as she ducked another fireball accidentally sent her way. There were a couple new students who had started at the beginning of the year, and they were still learning how to control their powers. Surprisingly, one of her most improved students (who was also the most likely to accidentally burn the place down) was Conner McKnight's twin brother, Eric, who had gotten kicked out of the Wind Ninja Academy before being discovered as a fire ninja.

Maggie shook her head as she thought about what the rangers were doing right now.

* * *

"Chip, are you all right?" Udonna asked the minute the rangers walked into Rootcore, Xander supporting Chip inside. They had just come from a rather tough fight, and Chip seemed to get the worse end of the attack. All of them aside from Hunter were wondering why Maggie didn't show, but they let it slide this time.

"Yeah," the red head nodded. "Just a little banged up."

"I don't get it," Vida frowned. "We've got this powerful genie and we never ask for help."

"It would make things easier," Maddie shrugged. Once more, the crystal ball went off, alerting them to trouble.

"Well?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

Daggeron answered this time. "Jenji's not the answer. "Rest up, Chip. We will need you. The rest of you, follow me."

* * *

Maggie walked into the Rock Porium to find the rangers crowding around the counter in the back. All of them looked tired, and the only one not present was Hunter, who Maggie assumed was at the house putting Bentley to bed. She walked up behind the rangers, listening in on their conversation. A pile of party decorations was on the counter along with a note.

"Check this out," Nick motioned to it. "'Thanks for making our one-year anniversary party so special. I expect nothing less than perfection. Toby.'"

"Look," Vida sighed. "I say we spread the magic, get it done fast, and get some sleep. All in favor?" Everyone but Maggie and Maddie raised their hands.

"Well, it's not very personal," the blue ranger bit her lip. One look at the others changed their minds. "Okay, you're right. Let's do it."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "You know, you're not supposed to use the powers for personal gain."

* * *

"How was the party yesterday?" Hunter asked as he found Maggie in the kitchen, making breakfast for everyone in the house. Lily, Penny, and Bentley had yet to awake, so Hunter figured he would spend some time with his girlfriend before they had to go join the others at the Rock Porium party.

"Awful," Maggie grumbled. "At least, I thought it was. Fancy people talking fancy and whatnot, too many dresses and classical music. Plus going there in an itchy wig was not helpful."

"I thought you were used to that wig by now?" he frowned, moving over to grab a few plates.

Maggie nodded. "I am, but it doesn't mean that it still doesn't bother me sometimes. So did you see what I saw yesterday?"

"That the others are taking their magic for granted?" Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Daggeron and Udonna seemed to know it too."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Maggie shrugged, setting the first of the breakfast plates on the table. "I told Udonna about it, and she wanted to see if it was true, so I refrained from fighting…"

"Because you would be easily able to kick the monsters ass and not give the others a challenge?" he finished. Maggie smirked and nodded.

Before they could sit down and eat, their morphers went off.

* * *

"There he is!" Nick pointed out as eight morphed rangers ran onto the scene, finding a bulldog like monster waiting for them. The dog creature turned around, causing them to stop their step as they got ready to fight.

"Glad you could make it, rangers!" he greeted, firing from his staff right away. All the rangers aside from Daggeron hit the ground. Daggeron made it closer to the monster before stopping his tracks, hoping to distract him.

"Hold it right there, fiend!" he drew his blaster, aiming at the creature.

"I'm not afraid of you," the monster snorted. Daggeron fired the laser lamp, and the creature would've taken a direct hit had a hand not stopped the impact from happening.

When the smoke cleared, a yeti like monster was left in its spot. "Fifty Below, you got here just in time," the dog monster grinned. Daggeron moved back to the rangers, who were just getting to their feet.

"Now that I am here," Fifty Below began. "You will be defeated."

"Seriously, you guys need new lines," Maggie scoffed.

"Who are these guys?" Nick wondered. "They're so much stronger."

"You got that right, ranger," Fifty Below agreed.

"We are from the Oblivion," the dog added. Nick drew his magi staff and aimed for Fifty Below, leading an attack. The two launched into a fight before the red ranger was thrown to the ground. Vida used her tornado power to attack, only to be shot back before she could hit. Chip used his crossbow to try and land a hit, only he was shot back as well. Maddie and Xander went next, and just as their attacks were about to hit, they were knocked down.

Maggie looked at Hunter. "Ready to pull some ninja tricks?" the crimson ranger smirked and nodded as both drew their weapons. They charged, not taking fire yet. When they saw Fifty Below open fire, they were hit. At least, that's what it looked like to the others. When the smoke cleared, all that could be seen of the two was the ranger suits, lying limp on the ground. This confused everyone until they saw the creature be shot in the back before he was crushed by a giant orange boot.

Maggie and Hunter rejoined the group of rangers, smirking. Fifty Below sent an ice attack at them, to which Maggie melted using her fire powers. However, she couldn't use it quick enough as the creature skated by them, knocking them all down.

"Hurry," Daggeron ordered. "Get up, rangers!"

"Daggeron, do something," Xander pleaded.

"Use Jenji," Nick added. "We're exhausted!"

"Please!" Maddie added.

"Just do it!" Vida growled.

Daggeron sighed as Maggie got to her feet, not as tired as the others. "You are all worthless and weak," Fifty Below smirked.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Daggeron grumbled.

"Yeah?" Jenji popped his head out of the lamp. "You're not the only one." Daggeron fired just as Maggie protested. The brunette knew that by sending Jenji in, they were falling right into the trap the enemy had set. Fifty Below knocked Jenji off his course, allowing his partner in crime to capture the genie. "What? Jenji!"

"This is not good," Maggie got a sinking feeling. She began to charge, only to be interrupted when Fifty Below delivered final blow to the rangers that sent them down once more before he vanished.

* * *

"They captured him?" Udonna went wide eyed with shock. The rangers had all finished telling her the story of the fight, letting her know what had happened. Hunter and Maggie knew why exactly Jenji was captured, but their protests had little effect on the other rangers' decision.

"There was nothing else we could do," Nick stated.

"So you relied on Jenji?" the older woman demanded. She knew Maggie and Hunter tried to stop it, having known that the others did it because they relied too much on magic.

"We had to," Xander added. "There was no other choice."

"There's always another choice," Maggie growled, glaring at the green ranger. "We fell right into their trap by using Jenji."

Maddie sighed. "Now that they've captured him…they can wish for anything."

"I wonder what they're gonna wish for," Chip mused.

"We must be prepared for the worst," Daggeron warned.

* * *

The rangers were making their way back to their realm, Hunter and Maggie following them. Hunter had sensed that Maggie was close to her nervous breakdown, and at this point, anything could set it off. If they weren't careful with words they said, it could end very badly for them. He wrapped an arm around her as they all went through the tree, noticing the other five laughing as they were in a pig pile before them.

When they stood, their laughter ceased, mainly due to rapid changes. The sky moved quickly as it turned grey, and everything became dull in color. The wind had picked up, giving them a bad feeling.

Everything had changed.

* * *

A/N: So what's up next time when the rangers go on another journey to try and correct their mistakes?


	19. Dark Wish Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 19: Dark Wish**

**Part II**

_A/N: Last time, the rangers lost Jenji in the battle against two creatures who proved they were tough opponents. The world turned dark grey and dull, changing everything the rangers knew and loved. Now, how will the rangers manage to get everything back to normal, especially if one finally cracks? _

_Thank you guys for sticking with this series from the beginning. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

The rangers all looked around, shocked at what they now saw. Everything they knew about the city of Briarwood had changed, and it wasn't for the better. The city was grey, gloomy, and dull. Buildings, from what they could see, had been destroyed, including the Rock Porium. There were people scavenging around, looking for anything to stay alive. Just moments ago, everything had been as normal as it could've been for them, and now, that was all turned upside down.

"Toby?" Vida frowned as they watched the man try and push a shopping cart with items in it up a slight hill. The older man turned to them and grinned.

"Hey guys," he greeted. "I was worried about you. I thought that…who are they?" he nodded toward Nick, Hunter, and Maggie.

"What?" Maddie asked, confused.

"At least he's still got his sense of humor," Nick commented. Toby, though smiling, was still confused.

"No, seriously," he pressed. "Who are they?"

Vida decided to change the subject. "Toby, what happened to the Rock Porium? What happened to all the color?"

"You…" Toby couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're trying to mess with me. You don't remember how the darkness took over? Five months ago?"

"Guys, something's happened," Hunter alerted them. "The world as we know it has changed. Five months ago was when we," he pointed at himself, Maggie, and Nick. "First came to Briarwood, and we became…you know who."

Toby got their attention. "Hey guys, do you hear? I got…music." A grin lit up his face as music played through the headphones he had found. "I still have to listen to it even though it's been banned."

"Banned music?" Maggie went wide eyed, speaking up for the first time. Her mind was going a mile a minute, numerous thoughts about the entire situation buzzing through it. If there was no music, what happened to one of her jobs? If she and Hunter weren't known around the area, then where was her son and family? What happened to the Storm Chargers they recently opened up? Hunter wrapped an arm around her, hoping to comfort her.

"Toby, who banned it?" Chip followed. A little ways away, but still close enough to the group, a small group of hidiacs appeared and grabbed Toby, the leader of them smashing the music player Toby found. The rangers moved to morph, only to find their morphers missing.

"Our morphers," Xander seemed shocked.

"We better get to Rootcore," Nick breathed. Something wasn't right.

* * *

After having to find and alternative way to Rootcore since going through the trees wouldn't work, the rangers found themselves staring at the ruined entrance to their base. Hunter still had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend, knowing at any moment she would snap and her breakdown would begin. He had tried comforting her on their way here by talking to her, but it didn't do much. Vida and Maddie hung behind the other three boys with Maggie and Hunter.

"What happened here?" Xander asked as he picked up a broken piece of the Xenotome.

"What happened everywhere?" Nick countered.

"Get away from here!" they heard a familiar voice shout. They all turned to find a frantic Udonna waving a broom at them, scared. She looked older now. "My home! Get away! Mine! Go, go!"

Maddie tried speaking. "Udonna, don't you remember us? You taught us everything we know. We're the power rangers. We're the mystic force."

"Liars!" the older sorceress bellowed. "The Legendary Ones never came. I waited for them. They never came! Only the darkness. Only the darkness!"

"There you are," a frazzled looking blonde appeared, walking over to Udonna. "I've been looking ev…" she stopped when she noticed the group of seven. "Who are you? You better not try and harm us!"

"Clare, we would never harm you," Xander swore.

"You know my name?" the blonde went wide eyed, scared. "You must be one of them!"

Maggie got an idea as she recalled something. She lifted up the sleeve of her shirt, finding her tattoo of a flame, the symbol of her ninja academy. Knowing that Udonna's sister was the one who ran it before Lothor killed her, she hoped that those facts hadn't changed and that by showing it to the two girls, they would at least calm their fears. She moved herself from Hunter's arms and walked over to the two women, showing them her tattoo.

"That's from the Ember Academy," Udonna gasped, and Maggie knew she was good to go. "My sister's academy. She sent you, didn't she?"

"No, she didn't," Maggie shook her head. "Her daughter did." Of course, that was a lie, but she had to make something up. "Leanne is like a sister to me. I would never think about or even hurt any of them. I would never hurt those who are like family to me."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Clare demanded, giving her an odd look.

Maggie showed them her ninja morpher with her academy's logo on it. The two women noticed it. "I would never lie about something like this. I'm not the type of person to lie. We're here to help, all of us. But in order for us to help, we need you to tell us what happened."

"Don't you know what happened?" Clare asked, her voice shaky. "There's no more good magic in the world."

* * *

After finally getting something out of Udonna and Clare thanks to Maggie, the rangers set off through the woods, trying to figure out how to solve this problem. Hunter had his arm wrapped around Maggie once more, knowing that what she had done to help Udonna and Clare was only a temporary thing in her mind that set off her breakdown. Vida and Maddie lingered in between the two ninjas and the other guys as they walked.

"Let's see," Chip began. "We've lost Jenji. We're no longer power rangers. We no longer have any magic. In fact, there's no longer any good magic and the world's ruled by dark forces. This is officially about as bad as it gets."

Of course, thanks to him opening his mouth, Koragg appeared in front of them.

"I've been looking for you," he drew his sword, pointing it at them. He stuck his sword in the ground and took a few steps back. "We need to talk."

"We don't talk," Nick stepped forward. "Not to you." He went for the sword, but Maggie grabbed it before he could, preventing him from doing something stupid.

"Don't do anything stupid," she growled, glaring at five of the six rangers behind her. "Like you've already done so far." This confused Nick, Xander, Vida, Chip, and Maddie as the orange ranger turned back to Koragg. She held the sword out for him. "We'll talk."

He took his sword back and put it away. "The world we knew has changed."

"Tell us something we don't know," Maggie scoffed. The others got the feeling she wasn't to be defied at the moment. "All we know is that our world changed soon after us and Daggeron lost his genie to that bulldog and the yeti."

"Of course," Koragg realized. "Your knight lost his genie, and Imperious made him grant a wish that the power rangers never existed."

"Okay," Xander piped up. "How about the bulldog and the yeti?"

"Fightoe and Fifty Below," the knight replied. "They work for Imperious, and they are as much my enemies as they are yours."

"Excuse me?" Chip frowned. None of this was making any sense. "Am I missing something? You and that mummy have been trying to turn us into vapor for months, and now you're saying that you don't like the new guys because they got rid of us?"

"Not because they did," Koragg corrected.

Maggie, however, knew what he was going to say. "It's how they did it and how they tried to get rid of you, and that those two are trying to overthrow the master."

"How do you know this?" Koragg growled.

"'Know Your Enemy 101," Maggie glared at him. "Every good villain and hero knows that basic rule. The more you know about your enemy, the better it'll be in the long run. For instance, though you never said it, you believe that victory without honor is meaningless, which helps make the bulldog and yeti your enemies. Honor is the one thing in this world that no one can take from you, no matter how hard they try."

"I would battle them myself," Koragg seemed impressed with her knowledge. "But my magical powers have also been taken away. But I can help you get your powers back, and defeat Fightoe and Fifty Below."

Nick chuckled. "And you took his sword away from me."

"Think," Maggie turned her glare to him. "What choice do we really have? Whether you guys are with me or not, I'm going to do whatever the hell I can to make things normal. At least his way, we have a better fighting chance."

* * *

As the rangers followed Koragg, Maggie and Hunter fell behind. Hunter once more had an arm wrapped around his girlfriend, pulling her in close as they walked. He knew what she meant by everything she had said and done since this mess began, and he knew that the others were confused by it. She was leaning into him, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. "You okay?" he asked, low enough for only her to hear. Of course, since it was quiet, the other rangers could hear them too.

"I'm just worried," she sighed, speaking quietly as well. "With everything going on…"

"I know," he nodded. "Just…try not to breakdown until this mess blows over?"

"I'll try," she agreed. "But I make no promises. If I do start to breakdown, use your powers to knock me out so _I _don't screw something up for us."

He pulled her a bit closer. "I'll do my best. Just stay calm and you should be fine."

"It's just," she bit her lip. "I really need this thing to be over with. I want my life to go back to how it was before we got to Briarwood. I mean, not that I don't mind doing this again, but at some point, it has to stop. Somehow, I feel like this isn't our last ranger adventure."

"Like you mean on this team or in the rest of our lives?" he asked.

"The latter," she sighed.

Koragg's voice caught to them. "You must go to the Tribunal of Magic and ask them to reverse the wish. It's the only way."

"And you're gonna take us to them?" Vida raised an eyebrow.

"The Tribunal resides in another dimension," Koragg stated.

"Oh great," Maggie groaned. "More dimension hopping."

"What's so bad about that?" Maddie frowned.

Maggie scoffed. "You've never been to the Island of Illusions and seen everyone you care about dead. I couldn't tell what was real from unreal for a week."

"I no longer have the magic to transport you," Koragg went on. They stopped when they reached what they were looking for. "You'll have to go with him." They looked up and saw Fire Heart standing before them.

"Fire Heart," Chip grinned. They moved forward, Fire Heart firing at them, causing them to step back.

"He doesn't remember us," Maddie blinked. "We raised him from an egg."

"No you didn't," Koragg shook his head. "You never found the egg. I did. I raised him. He's my dragon." He chanted something the rangers didn't quite understand, and Fire Heart seemed kind of normal afterward. "He will take you now."

The rangers climbed onto Fire Heart's back, and the dragon flew off.

* * *

After a rather rough flight into the other dimension where they were sent to, the rangers found themselves in a desert like area. Fire Heart had left them here, and now they were walking along, trying to find their way around. They weren't sure how much time had passed exactly, but they had a feeling a lot of time had passed.

"You think they'd at least have some signs out here," Xander grumbled.

"Sure," Vida rolled her eyes. "'Something like 'secret Tribunal of Magic three miles ahead.'"

"Yeah well," Maddie sighed. "At least we would know if we were heading in the right direction."

In front of them, a strange creature that wasn't as ugly looking as hidiacs but still in the category formed from the sand, stopping them in their tracks. He drew his sword and faced the rangers. "Why have you come here, humans?" his face was covered by a mask.

"That's none of your business," Nick stepped forward.

"Let me handle this one," Xander offered. He looked at the creature. "Hi. The name's Xander. We just flew into this dimension on a dragon, and we're looking for the Tribunal of Magic."

"Tribunal of Magic?" he seemed interested. Xander nodded. "Then you're headed in the right direction."

"Excellent," the green ranger grinned. "Then we'll just be on our way…"

"But to get to the Tribunal of Magic," the creature looked ready to fight. "You have to get by every warrior that's tried to get there and failed." More warriors like him appeared on the hill behind him.

Maggie shrugged and charged the head of the group, not willing to go down without a fight. The others split up and went to fight off a couple other warriors each. They were each doing so without any use of their powers, granted Maggie and Hunter had extra ones they could use. However, in order to make the fight fair for everyone, they weren't going to use them. Everyone was doing better than they thought, but the warriors were still proving to be a tough challenge.

When they finally finished, the rangers regrouped and faced the head warrior, Maggie at the front. "Well done," he nodded. He held out a key. "You've earned this." Maggie took the key and the warrior faded into the sand.

* * *

"A key to a treasure chest?" Chip mused as the rangers once again walked along through the desert, in the same direction they had been. Nothing had come up for a while, and they were starting to think this was all a giant trap they had fallen deeper into. "Maybe it's a key to a castle, or it could be a key to a…"

"Door," Nick cut him off as the rangers came to two doors. The one closer to them was painted white while the other was painted black.

"That's odd," Maddie frowned. "Well, this is interesting." Vida moved behind one of the doors, seeing it led nowhere.

She huffed. "Two doors in the middle of nowhere…leading to nowhere." She rejoined the others. Maddie took the key and walked to the white door, opening it. It swung open to reveal a lively scene at the Rock Porium. Toby was being swarmed with customers, and color and life had returned to the world.

"Guys, it's Briarwood!" she grinned. "It's the Rock Porium! Even the color's back! Guys, it's home."

"And it looks like Toby needs our help," Chip added. "What are we waiting for?" Maggie rolled her eyes and looked at her boyfriend, who was trying to stifle a laugh. The brunette walked over to her sister, who stepped aside. Instead of listening to the other's opinions, Maggie shut the door and pulled the key out of the lock. She stepped back, and the door disappeared.

"Maggie, what are you doing?" Xander demanded. "That was our way home!"

"Don't believe everything you see," she grumbled, walking toward the black door as the others followed her. "Nothing is ever that easy." She opened the other door, revealing a green portal that looked anything but friendly.

"What happens if it gets worse on the other side?" Xander challenged.

Maggie shrugged. "Then we deal with it." One by one, the rangers walked through the door. Nick went in first, followed by Vida, Maddie, Xander, Chip, and Hunter, Maggie bringing up the rear.

* * *

A/N: Before this gets too long, I'm stopping this here. Anyway, up next continues where this one left off, and goes into the next episode. I can't believe I made it this far into the story so far. Anyway, what'll happen next time?


	20. Dark Wish Part III

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 20: Dark Wish**

**Part III**

_A/N: Last time, the others reached the Tribunal of Magic by going through a strange door and defeating zombie like creatures. Starting this chapter off, the rangers have to face the Tribunal. Now, can they make things normal again?_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own thins not originally in the show._

* * *

When the rangers came out on the other side, they were shocked to see a beautiful, green grass land on a cliff with a bright blue sky, a shining sun, and a magnificent blue ocean surrounding it. Carpets of red, black, and white lined paths from the stage the rangers appeared on to a stage separated into thirds by the colors. The rangers walked forward, heading for the other stage. Three figures appeared on it, standing in the section with their color. None of them had faces and all wore robes in either red, white, or black.

"You are the first to get to the Tribunal of Magic," the white one spoke, her voice indicating she was female. "In three centuries."

"You are wasting our time and yours," the black one huffed, his voice proving he was a male.

The red one finished. "They have made it this far. They are entitled to be heard. Speak."

"Hi," Xander greeted before any of the others could speak. "The name's Xander."

"Enough," the black one interrupted. "We do not care about a name. Why are you here?"

"I think you better handle this one, Nick," Xander sighed.

Nick rolled his eyes before speaking. "Well, uh, to cut to the chase, there is this bad guy, Imperious, who stole our genie and made him grant a wish. He wished that the power rangers never existed."

"You are the power rangers?" White raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Chip nodded. "I'm yellow. He's red. She's…"

"Enough," Black interrupted once more. "Go home. There is nothing we can do for you." Hunter, who had an arm wrapped around Maggie, felt her tense up. He knew what was coming, and he hoped that she could wait to break down for just a little longer.

"Wait," Nick frowned. "Wait a second. We were told that you could reverse a genie's wish."

White nodded. "We can."

"But we won't," Black huffed. "Go!"

"I don't believe this," Maddie muttered. They turned to move, only for the red tribunal member to call them back.

"Why is it that you want this wish reversed?" he asked.

Vida was the first to answer. "Because our magic has been taken away from us, and dark magic now rules the world."

"So your world still has magic," Black shrugged.

"Well, yeah," Chip nodded. "But it's dark and evil and icky."

"We do not judge good or evil magic," Red stated. "We just ensure that there is magic."

"Okay, guys, seriously," Xander groaned. "You can't say dark evil magic is the same as having good, wondrous magic."

"No," White agreed. "It isn't the same."

"I'm curious," Black looked at them. "Just how was your genie stolen?"

Nick spoke the tale. "We had been in battle after battle. We were tired. We asked Solaris to use his genie, and when he did, Jenji was captured."

"And who was responsible for this loss?" Black demanded.

"No one was responsible," Nick shouted. "It just happened. Sometimes things just happen."

"It would serve you best not to raise your voice," Red advised. "We are not the ones responsible for losing your genie."

"And what?" Nick scoffed. "You're saying we are?"

White turned to the two beside her. "I think it best we change the subject. Let's see. What would you do if we were to grant the reversal of the wish?"

"We would go back and fight the darkness," Maddie began. "And restore the world to the way it was."

"And there would be color, and laughter," Vida added. "And people could be free."

"And Toby would have his store back," Nick put in. "And we'd all have music."

"And Udonna would have Rootcore," Vida continued.

"And we'd have our dragon back," Xander gave his thoughts.

Maggie, who had been silent since they got here and the tribunal appeared, spoke. "My son and millions of other innocent children can live normally without being scared or having to worry about what's going to happen."

"They present a good case," White mused.

"We need to confer," Red excused themselves. Hunter tried soothing Maggie, sensing her breakdown was about to come. At this point, he figured, it would depend on the Tribunal's answer to their question. He really hoped they would give an answer that would put off her breakdown, but he couldn't guarantee anything. "We admire the ability it took to get here. We applaud the case you presented us. By the powers entrusted in us, we do not grant your request."

Hunter groaned internally as he felt Maggie twitch and move away from his arms. He knew that this was not going to end well.

"No?" she blinked, trying to make sense of what she just heard. The other rangers noticed an odd look in her eyes, one they never saw before, not even Vida and Maddie. Hunter, however, had only seen this once before and knew exactly what was happening. "Why the hell not?" she demanded, glaring angrily. "Why can't you reverse it? I've been to hell and back and I can't even get a little help when I ask for it by simply…"

Whatever the orange ranger was about to say was cut off when she fell unconscious, thanks to Hunter using his powers to do so like he promised. The blonde caught her before she fell and hit the ground and scooped her into his arms. The others were giving him odd looks, and he could've of sworn the Tribunal was doing the same.

With a wave of their hands, the Tribunal sent them away.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Vida demanded, glaring at Hunter for knocking her sister out. "Why the hell did you knock my sister unconscious?" Though the thoughts of the Tribunal denying their request to reverse the genie wish were present, Vida and Maddie were a bit more concerned about their sister, having never seen her act like that. All seven rangers had reappeared in Briarwood, standing in the park across from where the two shops should be.

"She was having a nervous breakdown," the blonde explained. "Would you rather hear her rant and possibly say or do something that could've made the situation worse?"

Maddie decided to change the subject before her sister could do any harm. "All that way…and we failed."

"I can't believe its over," Xander shook his head.

"It's not over," Maggie groaned as she came to. Hunter set her back on her feet as she woke up. Hidiacs came over to them and began pushing them along. However, Maggie wasn't going to follow their orders and instead attacked them, causing a giant commotion. Hunter wasted no time in helping keep the other ones away from her until she went to fight them.

From a spot nearby, they could hear Necrolai shouting. "Any human who doesn't obey the law will be taken to the mines. You live only to serve us, now."

"This is horrible," Maddie gasped as Maggie finished off the hidiacs. They followed the other people, hoping to find something.

"They've taken over the whole city," Chip sighed. "And there's nothing we can do about it." They stopped in their tracks as they neared Necrolai.

"The world belongs to the forces of Darkness," she cackled.

"We failed," Xander finished up. From a short distance, they heard music being played. They all looked and saw Toby playing with a music box, only for it to be ripped from his hands seconds later by Necrolai.

She growled. "You were told once that music is forbidden!"

"But it's just a little music box," Toby argued.

"The law is the law," Necrolai huffed. "Seize him!" Hidiacs came and grabbed Toby, hauling him away.

Maggie decided to open up a challenge. "Hey! Freaky vampire bitch!" Necrolai turned and spotted the rangers. "Did you honestly think we'd stay away from the party? It really hurt to not be invited." Necrolai scoffed and sent hidiacs after them.

As the others charged the oncoming hidiacs, Maggie went face to face with fighting off Necrolai. Maggie wasn't wasting any time and decided she was going to use her fire and shrinking powers to help her. Setting her hands on fire, the brunette charged the vampire, ready for a fight and not willing to back down. From the corner of her eyes, she could see her teammates being thrown toward a fence. When Necrolai saw her opening, she shot Maggie back over to them. Hunter caught her before she could hurt herself and the rangers were backed up against the fence.

"Well well," Necrolai smirked. "Look who's back."

"What are you gonna do to us?" Maddie asked.

"Nothing if I can help it," Maggie growled.

Necrolai rolled her eyes. "Something I've wanted to do for a long time – annihilate you!" A loud rumbling echoed through the area. Everyone, villains included, looked up at the sky, which began rapidly moving. It slowed down back to its normal pace as color returned. The rangers felt their morphers return to their rightful positions. "No!"

"I don't know about you guys," Nick grinned. "But I'm feeling the magic."

As one, they did what they did best. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

"Bring it on!" Necrolai challenged, her army ready behind her. Both sides charged, clashing swords as they got into the fight.

* * *

"Thanks for that, earlier," Maggie looked up at Hunter as the rangers happily made their way back to Rootcore. She and Hunter were lagging behind the others, letting them enjoy this victory. Maggie still wasn't feeling the greatest, considering she hadn't been able to rant properly, but she knew she would be able to do that sometime when it wasn't going to affect ranger duties.

"For what?" he frowned. Maggie leaned up and gave him a quick kiss before explaining.

"For stopping me from looking like an idiot in front of the Tribunal," she smiled. "And for catching me before I could fall in the fight earlier." So far, things were back to normal for all of them, and the only thing they had left to do was destroy the bulldog and yeti .

The rangers walked into Rootcore, finding Udonna, Clare, Daggeron, and Jenji back to normal. Once inside, all of them joined in a giant group hug, with laughter spreading around the room. "Going to the Tribunal of Magic took a lot of guts," Daggeron stated. "And I can't believe Koragg helped you."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Jenji apologized. "This whole mess happened because of me."

"It's not your fault Jenji," Maddie denied. "You had to grant the wish."

"The danger isn't over yet, rangers," Udonna warned. "Two of the barbarian beasts are still…" she was cut off when the crystal ball alerted them to trouble.

"You had to say it," Vida sighed.

* * *

A hard day's work was done, and the rangers finally had time to relax from it all. A lot had happened in the final fight against Fightoe and Fifty Below, aside from the rangers destroying the two. All seven rangers had gained a new power up, one which gave them all advanced powers once the other five rangers learned the lesson the Tribunal had wanted them to learn. New powers meant new megazords, so they gained one of those as well.

Now, all the rangers were relaxing in their own way. Vida, Maddie, Nick, Xander, and Chip were at the Rock Porium, finding an excuse for why they bailed on Toby. Hunter and Maggie, however, went back home. Maggie desperately wanted to see her son and make sure he was okay, and she wanted to see what her sisters remembered of the mess that had been made earlier.

As of this moment, Hunter and Maggie were sitting on the couch, watching a movie as Lily and Penny were taking Bentley to something his daycare was hosting. The two had found a random movie on TV to watch, and both were just resting, putting the day's events behind them.

It was definitely a night to relax.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for cutting out most of the fighting scenes, but I just didn't feel like writing them in. One more chapter before the next major arc.


	21. Koragg's Trial

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 21: Koragg's Trial**

_A/N:The Dark Wish arc is over, and after this chapter is the Heir Apparent arc. Not much longer for this story, anyway. Now that things are back to normal for the rangers (hopefully), what'll happen when Koragg challenges them? What'll happen with their lives in general? I'm not sure how this chapter will go, so bear with me._

_This chapter may be short._

_Also, since I watch Glee, and because of an actor in it passing away, I am going to say R.I.P. Cory Monteith._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"I hate Sundays," Nick grumbled as he, Vida, Maddie, and Chip were all in white painter's suits, doing their job for the day. It was a sunny and warm summer day in the city of Briarwood, and for the past couple of weeks, things had been quiet. Xander wasn't anywhere near the rangers. Hunter wasn't there either. Maggie sat in the truck bed of Hunter's truck they used to transport paint from the hardware store to the side of the Rock Porium. Bentley sat next to her, messing around with his own paint and paper. "I am not supposed to be working today. It's my day off!"

"And you're filling in for Xander," Maddie pointed out. "Just as he would fill in for you if you had a cold."

"Anyone wanna bet ten that greenie's faking?" Maggie smirked.

"What's got you so happy today?" Vida frowned at her sister. Normally Maggie wasn't this happy. The brunette pulled out her phone and began texting people.

She shrugged. "Just a good day. And I don't mean to jinx today by saying this, but so far, nothing's gone wrong." Vida's phone went off and she checked the message.

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow, sending a reply. "So if a monster were to attack, would it still be a good day?"

"Considering that I've gotten used to it over the past few years and it's pretty much become nothing," Maggie mused, replying to another text. "I'd say so."

"What are you two talking about?" Maddie faced them, knowing there was something they were hiding. Her phone buzzed and she checked her messages, both from her sisters. "Seriously, you're texting each other while you're five feet away from each other?"

"Yep," they nodded, typing away.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Guys, can we get back to work?"

"Fine," Vida sighed, pocketing her phone. She walked over and put a paint bucket on the other truck bed where Chip was mixing a couple colors. "Hey, Chip?"

"Yeah?" he turned and faced her, bringing the paint covered brush in his hands with him. The brush hit's Vida's face before she could blink, leaving a green mark from the paint. The yellow ranger's eyes widened. "Uh…hey, hey, I – I…" he shut his mouth as Vida grabbed a roller covered in red paint and ran it down his face, covering completely.

"Guys, come on," Nick faced them as Maddie and Maggie couldn't help but giggle. Vida and Chip turned to glare at him. "Xander's sick. We don't have time for goofing around." Smirking, Chip and Vida each grabbed a bucket of paint. Not wanting to get hit, Maggie put up a fire shield around her and her son as Maddie backed away. Chip and Vida, paint brushes full of paint, walked to the red ranger.

Nick seemed to sense it as he turned around, only to be hit with the brushes, Maddie joining in with a brush of blue.

* * *

"I just feel like I'm being watched," Maggie sighed as she watched four out of six of her teammates get into a war with the paint. She was talking on the phone with one of her sisters, explaining a theory she had. Vida, Nick, Maddie, and Chip were all covered in paint, flinging it at each other. The orange ranger was protecting herself and her son with a fire shield she had set up, preventing the paint from getting in.

"_Are you sure it's not just you being paranoid?" _Kelly raised an eyebrow as she replied.

"Given my history, I'm sure," Maggie answered. "I mean, I feel like he's creating a pattern."

"_How so?" _the red head wondered.

Maggie thought for a moment. "Every year since he's been arrested, he's found a way to send one of his friends and a gun after me between March and August. There was the gunmen when Tor and I switched bodies, then I got shot while I was substitute teaching in Reefside, and last year there was a shooter that came into a restaurant where I had Bentley with me."

"_Okay, maybe it's not paranoia," _Kelly rolled her eyes. _"But are you maybe becoming paranoid by over-thinking this? After all, the last time could've been coincidental."_

"And I thought you were the sister that could help," the brunette shook her head. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." She hung up her phone and looked at the other four rangers as they flung paint around. She dropped her shield and grabbed her son when Nick clutched his head in pain, stopping the war.

"It's Koragg," he stated. "He wants to fight."

* * *

"I agree with her," Tori nodded as she and Maggie sat in the back of the truck bed, waiting for the other rangers to get back. Since there was no one around that Maggie trusted to watch her son for the duration of the fight, she had hung back. Bentley was still messing around with the paint, now working on the mural the others were supposed to paint. The two ninjas were keeping an eye on him, the blonde having arrived just moments after Maggie heard the others were on their way back from the fight against Koragg. "Maybe you are becoming paranoid."

"I am not paranoid!" Maggie groaned. "I know my father well enough to know that he's planning something, whether he's in jail or not. I mean, what's next?"

"Hit by a car," Tori mused, trying to help her friend figure a few things out. "Explosion of a building you're in…"

"Will you be quiet about that?" Maggie shushed her. "He's probably got ears all around this city!"

Tori rolled her eyes. "So in other words, he's stalking you? How can he do that if he's in jail?"

"He's got friends who can do it for him," the brunette stated. "Can we please change the subject?"

"Fine, but you can't ignore that forever," the blonde shrugged. Maggie noticed the others arriving, Xander and Hunter in tow. She played some music from the radio in Hunter's truck, blasting it through the alley. Xander hopped up in the bed of the other truck that was there. Hunter sat on the end of the bed of his truck, Bentley sitting next to him as the other four rangers got to work.

As the others worked, Xander was looking at paint chips. "You are gonna help us, right Xander?" Nick asked as he grabbed more paint.

"I heard paint fumes can be bad for one recovering from a cold," he replied. "So I'll supervise from here."

"Let me get this straight," Maggie frowned. "You feel okay enough to fight, but not okay enough to work with paint? If you think the paint fumes are bad for recovering from a cold, then why are you sitting near open cans of paint?"

Xander rolled his eyes and ignored her. "Hey, you guys might wanna use midnight orange. It's…it's really beautiful."

"I'm not sure who I don't understand more," Nick sighed. "Xander or Koragg."

"What are you talking about?" Vida wondered.

"Xander is…Xander," Nick explained. "Koragg…does anyone but me ever think about why he never finishes off a fight?"

"Some generals are like that," Tori put in her thoughts. The others had been introduced to her when they had gotten back to the alley. "They fight until they've either had enough or fight until they just don't want to because they have a bigger plan in mind."

"Or maybe there's a power struggle," Hunter added, recalling when the girls had gotten kidnapped the same day they found out Vexacus was destroying Lothor's generals.

Maggie huffed. "I hope not. Those are never fun to see the outcome."

"Yeah but that means they could be destroying each other," Tori pointed out.

"Which means it'll end up coming back to bite us in the ass," Maggie pointed out. "Vexacus destroyed Zurgane but when the abyss opened, all of them came back."

The rangers all heard their morphers go off. Nick flipped his open. _"Daggeron needs help," _Udonna reported. Maggie looked at the water ninja and Tori nodded. The rangers all fled.

* * *

When the rangers arrived in the quarry, morphed, they found Daggeron facing against Imperious and Koragg. They had knocked Imperious away from destroying Daggeron for good and helped the older man to his feet. Daggeron looked to the rangers. "Nick, Hunter, Maggie, you come with me. You guys go after Koragg." Vida, Chip, Xander, and Maddie charged Koragg.

The other four rangers charged Imperious, hoping to get the fight done and over with. Weapons drawn, Imperious fired. The four blocked the blasts with their weapons, sending them right back. When Imperious fired again, Daggeron and Nick jumped to one side as Maggie and Hunter jumped to the other, all four avoiding being hit. From the corner of their eyes, they could see the others had gone into legend mode to face off Koragg.

"I love a big finale!" Imperious grinned, firing at the charging rangers. Daggeron fired his laser lamp as Nick delivered a blow from his sword.

Maggie looked over to her boyfriend. "Think it will work?"

"Worth a shot," he shrugged. Together, the two combined Hunter's staff and Maggie's mace, forming a new weapon. They swung it around and knocked Imperious down from a longer distance.

"This game has had a most unfortunate end," Imperious coughed right before fleeing the fight. Koragg apparently vanished as well, and the eight rangers regrouped.

"Next time Udonna wants some beetle's bane," Daggeron sighed. "I'm sending Clare."

* * *

Hunter could not believe what he was seeing. Tori, Maggie, and Vida were giggling at what had happened thanks to Bentley, who was painting on paper some more. Once the fight had finished, the rangers had come back to the alley to finish up the mural. While the guys and Maddie could look past what had happened, Hunter was staring in shock at his now rainbow colored truck- which apparently Bentley had done while the fight went on – as the three other girls laughed.

"What…the hell…happened to my truck?" he demanded.

"Bentley ran out of things to paint," Tori shrugged, trying to hold back her laughter. "He knew better than to paint Vida's jeep and the other truck, so he figured he would paint yours."

"Please tell me you got pictures," Maggie hoped. "This…this is…"

"To funny to not spread around," Vida cackled.

Bentley looked up at Hunter. "Daddy, do you like it?" Hunter was at a loss for words. How could he say he didn't in front of the five year old who looked to him as a father?

With the other rangers, they stepped back and stared at the mural they had just finished. Unfortunately, it hadn't gone as planned, and therefore, it didn't look how it should've. "It's…well, it's…"

"Awful," Vida finished for her sister, coming over to look.

"Yeah," Maddie nodded. "Yeah, that's the word I was looking for."

"Look what you've done," Xander shook his head. "Toby trusted you guys to create a mural that signifies the uniqueness of the store while still honoring the essence of music, and this is what you give him? It looks like something Bentley would do." Upon hearing this, the five year old looked up at the green ranger and took a paintbrush covered in paint and flung it at him, hitting Xander square in the back. Of course, this only added to Tori and Maggie's laughter.

Toby stepped out of the back door of the store. He stepped back and looked at the mural. "This is…shocking. I've never seen anything like it. You think people walking by are gonna stop and look at this and want to come into my store? Well, I do. It's beautiful…whatever it is." The four rangers who actually worked on it felt relief. "Good work, guys."

"Thanks boss," Xander grinned. "We worked really hard at this. It was hard to keep these guys believing in my vision, but I think we pulled it off."

"Good work," Toby praised. "You can be proud of yourselves." He took one last look at the mural before walking back inside the store. The four rangers glared at Xander.

"What?" he asked. "What did I do?" Vida, Maddie, Nick, and Chip all picked up their own brushes covered in paint. Vida and Chip had actual buckets filled with it. Xander caught on and he slowly backed away. He felt his back touch the wall and the others covered him in paint, finishing what Bentley started.

Naturally, Tori and Maggie laughed.

* * *

A/N: Up next is the Heir Apparent arc. So, what'll happen next time? Also, to help with the image of how Bentley colored Hunter's truck in the last scene, think of the van in "Daddy Day Care," except without the words on it and the colors more splattered on there.


	22. Heir Apparent Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 22: Heir Apparent**

**Part I**

_A/N: So here's the beginning of the Heir Apparent arc. I've never done this episode before (granted I only have one other mystic force story that uses episodes), so bear with me on how I write this. I have a couple ideas for it, and since Leelee's secret is discovered, Maggie will get pissed. So let's get on with this, shall we? _

_Thanks to all the readers and reviewers so far!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

The sound of clashing wooden swords filled the sunny August air as the group of rangers watched Maggie and Daggeron fight as part of training. Each had one hand bound to the other's hand with Velcro straps and rope. Each ranger had a wooden sword in their other hands. The two were fighting, demonstrating a fighting technique both knew rather well. Chip, Maddie, Nick, Vida, Xander, Hunter, and Udonna were watching from the logs they sat on.

All of the rangers watched the intense battle. It was the team's two best fighters against each other, that much was clear. However, they knew the sword to be Nick's weapon, not Maggie's. Aside from Hunter, none of them had seen her use a sword before. They only knew that she used a mace, since that was her weapon with the ranger suit. This added to their interest as they watched her duck under a swing, only to lose her footing on a twig in the ground and to hold her sword, blocking a blow from Daggeron.

"Sorry young warrior," he smirked. "Next time, I'll take it easy on you."

"Don't even think about it," she snarled, flipping up onto her feet fast enough to send Daggeron stumbling.

Xander was the first to speak of the rangers watching. "Why doesn't he use his laser lamp?"

"In bound battle training," Udonna explained. "Only swords can be used and no magic. Daggeron is very skilled in this technique, and it appears Maggie is as well." They all watched as Maggie slid under another swing and appeared behind Daggeron, hitting him in the back with the weapon.

"Because I was taught by the best," Daggeron paused the fight, giving an answer. "Now Maggie is going to be beat…I mean, taught by the best."

"I see that humility doesn't set in as one reaches middle age," she retorted as she heard her sisters chuckle.

"Middle age?" Daggeron raised an eyebrow. Using this distraction, Maggie made her move as she resumed the fight. Daggeron was quick to react.

Vida grinned. "Maggie's got this one wrapped up."

"She should," Hunter agreed. "From what she told me, this is what she was taught within her first year of being a fire ninja, and it's what she teaches first year fire ninjas now. Only difference is that fire ninjas use machetes instead of swords, the machete being their main weapon."

"Main weapon?" Nick looked at the crimson ranger.

"Each of the ninja academies has a main weapon," he nodded. "The Ember Academy has a machete, the Thunder Academy has the thunder blade, which is very difficult to master, the Wind Ninja Academy has swords, and the Ice Academy…well, no one really knows much about them because there aren't a whole lot of ice ninjas."

"An axe," Maggie supplied off the top of her head. "An ice ninja's main weapon is an axe."

"Well, it's not over yet," Xander continued watching the match. Maggie knocked Daggeron's sword out of his hand, catching it in her free one. She tossed it back to him, making the fight fair again.

"Aw you had him," Vida pointed out. "Don't give him his sword back."

Maggie shot her sisters a look. "Hey, might as well have at least one fair fight in my life, don't ya think?" Hunter, Maddie, and Vida realized what she meant as the others frowned confused. The fight resumed, and it wasn't long before Maggie had the knight pinned on the ground, the rope holding their hands together stuck through tree branches.

"Good work Maggie," he praised as she helped him up. Both unbound their hands from the Velcro straps holding them. "You took me fair and square, and you did it with honor. Your skill is growing stronger. In fact, you have all improved."

"Thanks to you," Maddie thanked.

"You were taught by the best," Chip added. "And so are we. Maybe one day we can be as good as Leanbow." Udonna snapped to attention at the mention of his name, and the other rangers looked between Chip and Daggeron.

"I'm sorry Udonna," Daggeron apologized right away. "I told Chip about your husband. He promised not to say a word."

"And I didn't," he pointed out. "Until now."

Xander looked around. "Does someone want to fill us in?"

"Udonna, he was a great man," Daggeron stated. "A hero. Perhaps it's time they learned about him."

"Yes," she agreed after a brief moment. "It's time we told you the whole story."

* * *

The rangers sat outside on the balcony in Rootcore, waiting for Udonna to being the tale of her lost husband. They were all sitting around, similar to how they were when watching Maggie and Daggeron train. Maggie was leaning into Hunter, who had his arm wrapped around her shoulders as they waited. Udonna and Daggeron walked over to them.

"Before the great war," the sorceress began. "Leanbow and I lived happily with our baby. His name was Bowen."

"Leanbow was my mentor," Daggeron continued. "The forces of evil attacked, and we fought them on all fronts. Leanbow fought bravely, but Morticon and his troops were too strong. We needed a plan, so Leanbow met with Niella and myself."

"He always did things his way," Udonna smiled in remembrance.

"I remember," Daggeron nodded. "And it was always the honorable way. Niella and I prepared for the final battle. Then we were joined by someone we thought was our friend."

Chip frowned. "But I thought Calindor was your enemy?"

"He is," Udonna stated. "And having once been a dear friend, it made the betrayal cut all the deeper. When the battle was taken to the surface world, I knew the forces of Darkness would be after our child. Bowen, born of magical blood, would have the power and potential to stop their evil domination."

"As I left with Bowen," Daggeron went on. "I was attacked by Calindor. Dark magic gave Calindor more power than ever. In the end, our magic collided and we were both cursed. As for Bowen, we know now Phineas found and brought him to the safety of the human world."

"So your son is alive?" Maddie looked to Udonna. "Somewhere."

"Yes," she replied. "Somewhere. Leanbow led the fight and banished the armies of darkness to the Underworld. Then he continued the battle behind the gates – alone. Leanbow and Niella gave their lives to save us all."

"Their sacrifice will not be in vain," Xander stated, standing.

"They will be remembered," Vida added.

Chip put in his piece. "We'll never stop fighting until there's peace in both worlds." As they continued this, Nick groaned in pain. They turned to see him clutching his head and knew what it meant.

"Koragg wants to fight," he looked at his teammates.

"We are ready," Daggeron stepped up.

"No," the red ranger shook his head. "Not you, Daggeron. You are to meet with Imperious, separately and finish off an old battle."

"Okay, now I know this is a trap," Maggie got to her feet, Hunter following her. "They must want something that we have."

Maddie looked to her older sister. "We're still going. I think it's time for payback."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for this," Nick took the lead.

Together, the rangers left for the fight.

* * *

"Welcome," Koragg greeted as the morphed rangers found him in one of the parks in Briarwood. He was standing alone as the rangers ran closer, stopping before they got too close. Maggie got the feeling that this was going to turn into a trap at some point, but until she could figure out what exactly that trap was, she had to fight.

"All right," Nick spoke when they stopped. "What do you want?"

"Your legend warrior power," the knight stated.

"You must be joking," Xander rolled his eyes.

"There's no way," Chip denied.

"We'll show you what the legend warrior power is for," Nick added.

Maggie was about to stop them, but her teammates had already changed into legend warrior mode, including Hunter. She was the only one not following suit. "Way to fall right into the trap," she muttered.

"Excellent," Koragg smirked as they all got ready to fight. "Your new magic is strong. That's why I must have it." He drew his sword, ready for a fight. All the rangers charged, using their staffs to hold him off. Maggie had her mace drawn, being the only one not in legend warrior mode. They repeatedly sent blows his way, Koragg returning them.

A hit from Nick sent him back, and the two locked in battle. The other rangers wanted to help, but they stayed back, waiting for the right moment to attack. When they finally saw their opening, they took their chance to attack. They were all thrown back into the fight, defending themselves equally against Koragg.

"Give me your legend warrior power," he ordered when they all faced him. "The master will grant you a place at his side."

"Forget it," Maggie growled.

"We only use our magic for good," Hunter added.

"And we always will," Vida finished up. All of the rangers in legend warrior mode used their staffs to fire different blasts at Koragg, Maggie assisting Nick with the fire storm as she added her own fire ball to it. Before they could all attack again, an odd looking creature appeared out of nowhere and knocked them back, protecting Koragg. "What is that thing?"

Koragg seemed to know. "Imperious, you've cast a forbidden spell."

"You're all mine, rangers!" the creature cackled.

"That's one ugly monster," Nick commented. "Come on guys." Nick sent an attack, only for it to be deflected and sent back at them. The team was hit and they hit the ground.

"That didn't make a dent," Chip's eyes widened.

"It looks like we're in trouble," Maddie grumbled. They were shot at again just as they were getting up.

Koragg seemed a bit confused. "This isn't the way."

"Be quiet!" the creature ordered. "Send them to the Underworld!"

"Very well," he agreed. The rangers were surrounded by a purple glow, wondering what was happening. They couldn't stand up to avoid it as they started slowly sinking into the ground.

* * *

When they reappeared, they landed on the ground in a dark room. They could still see, but the aura was dark and creepy. None of them were morphed anymore, and they were able to get a good look around at where they were. As they stood, hidiacs grabbed them from behind and held them back from fighting. Before they knew what was happening, they found themselves facing Imperious.

"Welcome to my humble home, rangers," he greeted. "If I knew guests were coming, I would've tidied up."

"Wow," a familiar voice joined as they all turned to see Leelee, wearing something dark with her hair down, walking into the room. "Really nice to see you guys." Maggie glared at the girl, knowing that there was something wrong with her all along.

"Leelee?" Vida raised an eyebrow. "They got you too?"

"Don't worry," Xander assured. "We'll get you out of this disgusting place."

To their surprise, Leelee smiled. "Thank you. I hate it here. It's always dark and damp. Not to mention getting turned into an insect at everyone's slightest whim." Necrolai appeared behind her.

"Complaining again, daughter?" she asked, shocking the rangers. Of course, this only added to Maggie's anger.

"Daughter?" Chip frowned.

"Can we keep them here, mom?" Leelee pleaded. "Can we? Huh? They have things that zombies down here will never have…like souls."

"Of course, my dear," Necrolai agreed. "Once their power is gone, you can keep them as your pets for all eternity."

* * *

"So nice of you to bring the gift of your legend powers," Imperious went on as the rangers found themselves now trapped on some sort of platform. Each ranger was on their own platform, and none of them could escape the shield that surrounded them, even if it wasn't always visible. Maggie was pissed, and the others could sense it.

"You're not getting anything from us," Vida swore.

"Oh it's not for me," Imperious explained, as if it would make the situation better. "It's for the master."

"That's the thing Leanbow sacrificed himself to defeat," Nick recalled.

"Leanbow?" Koragg frowned.

Imperious scoffed. "That name is not spoken here. Now, you will give the master the power to rise up and conquer." As soon as he said this, the rangers felt their energy and power being drained from them as they stood there, unable to do anything.

Maggie, however, was resisting it more than the others were. She was struggling to stop the force causing them to do this, but she was working on it. She had her eyes shut and instead of focusing on what was going on, she focused on how to break free. _Mind over matter, _she told herself. If she could break free by ignoring the pain, she could figure out how to break the others free.

She found herself fighting back, resisting the power further. The last thing she saw before she disappeared was an orange cat like animal attacking the villains in the room.

To the others, they noticed that she had vanished from sight and her connection was lost.

"The master will soon rise," Imperious continued, ignoring what just happened.

"They cannot defend themselves," Koragg stated. "There is no honor in this defeat."

"Stop that foolish blabbering!" Imperious grumbled. "This is our day of victory! This is the end of the mystic force!"

Out of nowhere, Udonna appeared before the rangers, using her power to stop the energy and power transfer. She then turned toward Imperious, who knocked her staff out of her hands. "How touching," he huffed. "The sorceress comes to save her little rangers. Now you'll feel the wrath of the master." Udonna was hit by the power from the pit holding the master. She was thrown to the ground, Imperious and most of the other villains laughing. "Behold her destruction."

To the rangers' surprise, Koragg rushed forward, watching as he severed the attack, freeing Udonna. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, no longer was he Koragg, but a man dressed in different armor. The rangers all sank down as the platforms they stood on turned to sand, allowing them to move freely. Everyone all looked over to where Koragg used to be.

"No!" Imperious gasped. "It can't be!" the armored man dropped the armor, revealing a man familiar to some of the people in the room, Udonna included.

"Who's that?" Xander looked at his teammates.

Udonna looked up at the man, shocked. "Leanbow?"

* * *

A/N: Well, Maggie vanished before Udonna could save the rangers. What'll happen now that Leanbow has been found? What'll the rangers do about everything they discovered so far? Where did Maggie end up?


	23. Heir Apparent Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 23: Heir Apparent**

**Part II**

_A/N: So last time, Maggie went missing at the end when they were having their powers drained, and Udonna appeared to save the others. What happened to Maggie? Also, Leanbow appeared, according to Udonna, so what'll happen with that? What's going to happen when more secrets are revealed? Where is Maggie, and will she be able to help her teammates? _

_It's possible this chapter might be short._

**_New poll on my profile for my Mixed Hearts series!_**

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

It was a normal day at the Wind Ninja Academy. Tori, Shane, and Dustin were teaching their classes as usual. Sensei and Cam were walking around, making sure everything was running smoothly. Students were walking around or practicing their skills if they didn't have a class to be in at the moment. It was a bright sunny day, and it was the middle of the day. Since it was lunch time, the four former rangers and Leanne, who was on lunch break from her job, were all at the academy, eating lunch.

However, lunch was interrupted the minute an orange cat thing burst through the doors, carrying a fire ninja on its back. After gently dropping the ninja on the ground by the other ninjas, it vanished into the girl. Tori, Shane, Dustin, Cam, and Leanne immediately got up to see who it was, considering her hair was covering most of her face. However, because of the orange streaks in the hair, most of them were able to tell who it was before seeing her face.

"Come on," Cam suggested, looking at his unconscious cousin. "Let's get her inside."

* * *

The rangers had no idea what exactly was going on. One minute they were in the Underworld, having their powers drained with Maggie disappearing, and the next, they were in a quarry, with the man who had been cursed to be Koragg. Udonna recognized him as Leanbow, and this only added to their confusion. Then again, if it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have made it out of the Underworld. "We'll be safe in this dimension for a while," he stated.

"Okay," Xander blinked. "Am I the only one confused by what's going on here?"

"I'm a little mixed up myself," Vida agreed.

"Let me get this straight," Chip tried. "Maggie disappeared, Udonna saved us, Leanbow was Koragg, and Koragg was Leanbow, and one of them, or both of them, just saved our lives."

"Wait wait," Nick frowned. "This is the same guy who's been trying to toast us for months. How can we trust it's really Leanbow?"

Leanbow nodded. "You're right. I don't blame you for not trusting me."

"I trust you," Udonna stepped forward, walking toward him. "I know it's you. What happened?"

"My tale is so incredible I'm not sure I believe it myself," he sighed. He took a seat on a nearby rock. "It happened in the last battle of the Great War. "

"You closed the gates to the Underworld," Udonna recalled. "And we all thought you were gone forever."

"Yes," he continued. "But that's when the story just begins. My plan had worked, and the master was sinking down into the depths, but he used the last of his dark magic to take me with him and turn me into Koragg, the Knight Wolf, his most obedient soldier. I had no memory of my previous life. Everything I did was for the master."

"But you remember now," Hunter pointed out.

Leanbow thought for a moment. "It must've been the virus that infected my titan mode. It began to break the memory spell."

"Then you must remember how many times you tried to destroy us," Nick commented. "And Udonna, even your own wife. You almost destroyed her, then stole her snow staff. Does that ring any bells?"

"Yes," the older man nodded. "I remember it all, and I cannot tell you all how sorry I am."

"Nick," Udonna looked at the red ranger. "No one could withstand the full power of the master's dark magic."

"If there was any way you could forgive me," Leanbow began. "All of you…"

Udonna began stepping forward. "Of course I…" she never finished as her legs gave out and she fell, the rangers reacting quickly. Leanbow held her as she stood.

"You're injured," he realized.

"I…used the book of dark magic to get to the Underworld," she stated. "I'm afraid I'm as vulnerable as any human now."

"You shouldn't have done that," Leanbow shook his head. Before anything else could be send, and explosion in the not so far distance caught their attention. "Imperious has found us. I'm sending you back to Rootcore."

* * *

"How did she end up here?" Dustin wondered as they finally had Maggie set up in a bed in Ninja Ops. The five other ninjas present were confused as to why Maggie suddenly appeared unconscious at the Wind Ninja Academy and what the cat thing was that brought her here and to them. Leanne and Cam were looking her over for any injuries and what not, hoping they could find something that told them what happened.

"How should we know, man?" Shane asked, worried about his sister.

"Maybe this has something to do with her new ranger gig," Tori shrugged. "I mean, she seemed fine when I visited her last week. A little paranoid about her father, but fine nonetheless."

Leanne walked over to them. "The good news is that she should wake up soon and she's not seriously injured. She just had her powers drained a bit by something."

"Why she was brought here is still a mystery," Cam added.

"Cam," Tori got an idea. "Do you think you could fix our morphers so we can go help them out?"

"Wait, what?" Shane looked at the water ninja. "We're going to help out the team in Briarwood? Why?"

"Because I have a feeling that something happened regarding it that caused her to end up here," Tori stated. Cam nodded and set to work.

* * *

The rangers had little time to rest between villains they were fighting off. Necrolai had vanished with Leanbow and the monster the rangers were fighting off was proving to be a great challenge. Udonna had been sent back to Rootcore, where the rangers knew Clare would be taking care of her. They still had no idea where their missing teammate was, but they had little time to focus on that as the fight went on.

During the fight, Daggeron had appeared riding a unicorn, one that could travel through any dimension. He had said that the creature could combine with the megazord when they ran into trouble. Only seconds after he arrived, he ran to face off Imperious once more as the others continued fighting off the Chimera beast. They were sent to another place far away from the battling two, the sky clearing up.

After appearing in a new area, the same one where they had fought Koragg earlier in the day, the rangers had called on their zords. The Chimera monster had grown to that size, and the rangers knew they had to use their zords. Well, Nick took off without the others and used the unicorn to create the phoenix unizord. He charged the monster, ready for a fight. The other rangers joined him from another megazord.

The megazord fight didn't last long as all of them were thrown from the megazord, landed on the ground without their morph. Nick was still in his, and he charged the monster again. Out of nowhere, when he was knocked down, Koragg in his megazord appeared. Of course, the rangers were confused and a bit angry about what was going on. Nick took down the Chimera monster quickly so he could fight Koragg. The two clashed swords, beginning their portion of the battle. After one more giant clash, Koragg and Nick were knocked from the zords, landing in the field on opposing sides.

"This isn't over," Koragg stood.

"Whatever you say," Nick followed his lead. The others reached him just as he was about to charge, but what happened before he could held him back. Koragg was blown back by a huge gust of wind. They all turned to Vida.

"That was not me," she swore. Following that, Koragg was shot up by a giant piece of the earth skyrocketing from underneath him.

"And that was not me," Xander stated.

Out of nowhere, a stream of water shot Koragg back down, pummeling him into the ground. "Okay, what's going on?" Maddie looked around. All six rangers saw blurs of red, blue, and yellow streak by, Hunter recognizing them before they came to a stop near them. All three were in their old ranger suits, visors now open.

"Dude, you got a cape too?" was the first thing out of Dustin's mouth when he noticed the cape on Hunter's uniform. The blonde rolled his eyes as Tori smacked the earth ninja upside the head.

"What are you guys doing here?" he wondered.

"You tell us," Shane shrugged. "One minute we're eating lunch and the next my sister appears unconscious next to us."

"So that's where she went when she disappeared," he realized.

Before they could do anything else, Koragg looked at them. "Is that all you got?" The other three ninjas' visors shut. Nick charged him and fought him off, leaving the others to watch.

"They're a pretty even match," Vida realized.

"It's like they can anticipate each other's moves," Xander agreed. Nick hit the ground and his sword went flying.

"You don't have a chance without your sword," he stated.

"But I do!" A new voice entered. They all looked up to see an orange mystic ranger flying in and pounding Koragg into the ground. Unlike most of the others on the battle field, she had no idea Koragg was Leanbow. She gave Nick time to get to his feet and grab his sword.

Koragg and Maggie set off fighting, leaving the others to watch. To her teammates, Maggie seemed angry, but she appeared to be controlling it rather well. "What the hell?" Tori demanded. "She was just unconscious a few minutes ago when we left!"

"Yeah, but it took us a little bit to get here," Shane pointed out. None of them could hear the argument going on between the two fighting opponents, but the six other mystic force rangers realized the same thing. Koragg never destroyed them because there was a part of him that was still good.

Maggie and Koragg continued their fight, neither one willing to give up. The others knew that it would eventually come to an end, but it was a matter of how it came to an end. They were all curious as to what was going to happen. When Maggie was thrown back into them, Nick, who was the only other mystic ranger still morphed, retook his place in the fight. Hunter and Tori helped Maggie up.

"What the hell happened to you?" Vida demanded as she and Maddie walked over to their sister.

"How did you break out of there?" Maddie added.

"Simple mind over matter stuff," she shrugged. "No idea how or why I ended up at the Ninja Academy, but I'm back now."

Everyone watched as a hit from Koragg sent Nick flying down, losing his morph in the process. Koragg spoke to him, and the rangers could barely hear what was being said. Koragg was about to move in for the kill as all the other rangers present ran forward to try and stop him. However, Udonna beat them to it as she appeared out of nowhere. "Leanbow, stop!" Koragg turned to look at her. "Don't do it!" she ran toward them and brought his sword down.

The others stopped running and stood confused, especially Maggie. Then Udonna shocked them all as she looked between Nick and Koragg. "This is Bowen, your child. Our child."

"What?" Koragg frowned.

"What are you saying?" Nick raised an eyebrow as he managed to get to his feet, just as confused.

"You were with me all along, and I never knew," Udonna began. "It's truly magical."

"My…my son?" Koragg put away his sword and looked at Nick. He stepped back a bit, feeling a strange feeling running through him. He lost the Koragg armor, turning back into Leanbow.

"And I thought my family reunions were weird," Chip muttered.

Maggie blinked. "Family reunions? My entire family tree is messed up!" then she realized something as she looked at the man standing in Koragg's place. "Okay, what the hell did I miss?"

"I am your mother," Udonna continued speaking to Nick. "It's true, Nick. I knew there was a reason you came to Briarwood. It was to fulfill your destiny – the greatest wizard of them all."

"This is gonna take a little while getting used to," the red ranger sighed. Unfortunately the moment was ruined when the ground began shaking and a few giant tentacles appeared out of the ground. Before the rangers could move and do anything, Leanbow held them back.

"This is my battle," he stated. "I must finish what I started. Ancient Mystic Mode!" Despite the protests, Leanbow continued forward.

* * *

Once all the fighting was done for the day and Maggie was filled in on what she missed, the rangers were found doing their own thing. They had gotten their legend warrior modes back, and some secrets had been revealed, but now was the rangers time to relax. The ninjas were all relaxing at Maggie and Hunter's house before they had to go back. Maggie and Tori sat on the floor, watching Bentley play with some of his toys. Penny was out shopping with Lily for back to school supplies.

"Can I just say that I'm still jealous about the capes?" Dustin whined.

"Get over it, man," Shane patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Not gonna happen."

"So did you post it yet?" Tori wondered, looking at the fire ninja.

"Post what?" Hunter frowned.

Maggie shrugged, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Yeah, I did earlier this morning once I finished editing it."

"Good," Tori grinned. Just then, Shane and Dustin's phones went off, alerting them to a new message.

"Dude, isn't this your truck?" Shane showed Hunter the picture.

The blonde glared at the two girls. "I thought we were never going to mention that again?"

"Oh come on," Tori chuckled. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up."

"Besides, it washed off," Maggie added. "After running it through a car wash fifty times or so."

* * *

A/N: Longer than I thought it would be. Anyway, up next is "The Light," and I'm not sure how that's gonna go.


	24. The Light

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 24: The Light**

_A/N: Yay, here's another chapter. So last time, Nick found his birth parents, the ninjas helped the mystics out, and Koragg was discovered to be Leanbow as well as Leelee being Necrolai's daughter. Now things are becoming tense for the rangers as their journey continues. What'll happen when Udonna leaves and the rangers are left with Daggeron, Jenji, and Clare to help them through this? _

___Two reasons I'm posting this chapter now: 1) I planned on updating a few stories tomorrow, but then I realized me and my friend who is like my sister are going to be spending all day getting ready for the Taylor Swift concert, so I won't have time to update. 2) I want to mention a new story idea I got from playing a video game, and it's going to be an odd mashup of monsters that an odd combination of rangers fight off while dealing with two other jobs each. Want more info on what I mean by that? Then look under my profile for a story called **Criminal Heroes. **_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Mommy, get up!" Bentley whined as he bounced on his mother's bed where Maggie and Hunter were still sleeping. It was a September morning, and things were starting to change. It had only been a little more than a couple weeks since discovering Koragg was Leanbow and Nick was Udonna's son, and things in the past two weeks had been rather quiet. Lily had gone back to Ocean Bluff because her classes started a few days ago, and Penny was the same way, starting her senior year at Briarwood High. "Time for school!"

Since school was starting and Bentley was five, it meant he was finally old enough to start school.

"Go wake your aunt," Maggie grumbled, not wanting to get up. She had been dreading this morning since her son turned five, but she knew it couldn't be avoided forever. Hunter knew how she felt about sending him to school, but he managed to convince her it would be better for all of them in the long run. Bentley jumped off of the bed and ran across the hall into his aunt's room, where he knew she would be up.

Hunter sighed. "We might as well get up before he comes back. You know he will." Maggie rolled over and checked the clock.

"It's six thirty in the morning!" she grumbled. "He doesn't have to be to school until eight thirty. He's got two hours to kill."

"He's just excited about his first day," Hunter sat up. "Now unless you wanna get trampled again, I would get up. Your sister might send him back in here."

"Why does he have to go today?" she huffed as she got up, Hunter heading into the bathroom across the hall. Maggie walked out into the hall and into her son's bedroom, digging through the drawers to find clothes appropriate for him to wear on his first day. She heard the shower running and footsteps in the kitchen.

When she had the clothes set out, she saw Hunter heading back to the bedroom to get ready and she used this opportunity to go take a shower. After taking a quick one, she found her sister in the kitchen finishing up breakfast and her son watching TV in the other room. "You had to send him to me, didn't you?" Penny shot the older girl a look.

"Hey, you're already up and ready to go to school, so why should he wake us up before you leave?" Maggie retorted as Hunter brought Bentley to the bedroom to help the young boy get ready. Maggie began making breakfast for herself, Hunter, and her son as Penny cleaned up her dishes. "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to have to put you as Bentley's emergency contact, after me and Hunter."

"Why?" the blonde frowned.

"Because if something's wrong and the school can't reach either me or Hunter because we're off fighting or too swamped at work, then you're gonna be the one to deal with it," she explained. "Which is why I'm glad your grandparents got you that car for your birthday."

"Whatever," Penny scoffed. "Well, I gotta go." She grabbed her things and left as Bentley and Hunter walked into the room, sitting at the table.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

After dropping Bentley off at the school, meeting the teacher, and getting him settled, Hunter drove him and Maggie to the Rock Porium, where they knew the others would be starting their shifts. Hunter parked the car in the rear of the two buildings before they made their way around front, entering the music shop. When they entered, they heard Xander speaking to Maddie.

"What's up Maddie?" he asked. "You've been quiet all day so far."

"It's nothing," she assured him and Chip, who were talking to her. Maggie went over toward them as Hunter went to talk to Nick and Vida. "I'm just…I guess I'm a little sad, that's all." Chip and Xander gave her looks that told her they wanted to know more. "I know I'm a power ranger, but come on. You guys are the ones that really, you know, lit it up. I don't feel like I did my share."

"Maddie, that's ridiculous," Xander stated. "You're as much a part of the team as anyone."

"Thanks," she snorted. "But, um, let's get real here. Nick did the Catastros thing, Xander, you get all the spell codes, Chip, you saved Vida. And Vida kicks butt, Hunter and Maggie have done a lot just by being former rangers before this, and I…"

Chip got an idea. "What about Jenji? You helped Jenji."

"As a friend in the fight," Maddie rolled her eyes. Maggie had been the one to convince him to fight, but Maddie had been the one to help him in the fight. "Not a superhero. Oh, actually, yeah, I did do something special. I got turned into a stone statue, and everyone had to come save me. Awesome."

"Don't feel bad, sis," Maggie patted the girl's shoulder as she reached them. "We all have our moment to shine or whatever."

"What's got you so down?" Maddie frowned.

"Bentley started school today," she replied.

Maddie nodded in understanding. "Was he upset to leave?"

"No," the brunette grumbled. Maddie walked further into the back room as the other three ran into the other tree rangers.

"No luck," Xander reported.

Toby appeared in front of them. "Oh, who are you guys? Do you know what happened to my employees?"

"We're right here boss," Xander was confused.

"Uh, no," Toby shook his head. "I mean the ones who are never here for more than an hour without running off and not telling me where they're going."

"Oh, sarcasm?" Xander realized. "Well, there's a simple explanation for that. Vida?"

"Uh, we like to go on…uh, Chip?" Vida looked to the red head.

Maggie rolled her eyes and decided to step in before anyone opened their mouths and spilt the secret. "It's part of a self defense course they've been taking for a while. The classes are spontaneous and whenever they get the call, they have to go. The only downside is that they do miss work or anything else they may have planned. Most of their training involves being prepared to go at any moment."

Toby shook his head, deciding to walk away before he got more confused.

Vida looked at her sister. "Self defense course?"

"It's better than spilling the secret and losing the protection of the power."

* * *

"Come on Daggeron," Chip begged. "You can tell us." The rangers had been called to Rootcore by Udonna, who said she wanted to meet with them. All seven and Clare had arrived, finding Daggeron getting ready to feed Fire Heart. They were trying to see if he knew what this meeting was about. They were all curious about it. "What's this meeting about?"

"I'm in the dark as much as you are about this meeting," he shrugged, the sack of food on his shoulder. He looked into Fire Heart's cave. "Come on Fire Heart. Come and get your oats." He chucked the bag into the cave, causing a gust of fire to fly out as Daggeron joined the others. "He likes his oats toasted."

"I'm glad you could all make it," Udonna spoke from behind them. They turned to face her.

"Is everything all right?" Nick asked.

Udonna nodded as she walked closer. "Yes…and no. Clare, you have been a wonderful apprentice. You'll make an amazing sorceress. Daggeron, I am so happy you have come back into my life. Vida, Chip, Xander, Madison, Margret, Hunter, you have far exceeded any expectations I had of you when we began this journey." Then she turned her attention to Nick. "Bowen, Nick, my son. You have grown into the man I always hoped you would be."

"Why does this sound like you're leaving?" Maggie asked, voicing it before Nick could.

"Because I am," the older woman nodded. "Somewhere out there is my husband, Leanbow. I'm going to find him and bring him home."

"We'll go with you," Vida offered.

"No," she denied. "You're needed here. This is something I must do alone."

Without another word, she turned and left Rootcore.

* * *

When the rangers were called because of a sighting of dark magic, they all found themselves in the middle of the city, looking around for the disturbance. Nothing had appeared yet, which they were thankful for. "Nothing unusual. That's strange," Xander commented. "The reading on the morpher said the dark energy here was off the chart."

"And it looks like it was right," Hunter looked up at the sky as it darkened considerably. A giant strange wave was flashing through the sky, splitting it vertically right down the middle and opening up.

"Now this is a wild guess," Chip mused. "But could it be referring to that?" They all watched as a giant platform began rising. "Now this…this could really be the end of the world." Daggeron joined them as creatures began appearing on the platform.

"In all my years of magic," he sighed. "I have never seen anything like this."

"So did not want to hear that," Maggie stated, not taking her eyes off the creatures before them.

Maddie frowned. "Who are they?"

"People of the surface," the creature with the fish face spoke. "Let me introduce you to the destroyers of your world. Black Lance, Megahorn, Iron Sculpin, Itassis, Serpentina, Hekatoid, Oculous, Magma, Matoombo, Gekkor. We are the Ten Terrors of the Underworld. We have come to punish you. Give us what you hold most sacred. Give us the light!"

"We got to stop them," Nick stepped forward. Right away, without even thinking, they all morphed into legend warrior mode and formed their megazord. When they were at the same level, they faced the terrors. "We're gonna give you a one way ticket back to the Underworld!" they fired, only to realize their attack did nothing.

"That was nothing," Black Lance scoffed. "Take this!" he gave one good hit. This his sent the rangers flying back, their megazord breaking apart and the rangers being thrown from it. They landed on the ground in a heap of demoprhed rangers.

"We will have the light," Sculpin swore.

Nick frowned. "The light? What was he talking about?" The Terrors sank back into the ground and the sky cleared, returning to normal.

* * *

When the rangers arrived on the battle scene in the afternoon, they had found Daggeron already fighting off the first Terror, Magma. The Terror had shrunk himself down to human size, giving them a break from Megazord fighting. The rangers noticed Daggeron get shot back before they made their move. "Yo, lava boy!" Nick called as they ran forward. "Try and take us all on!" they drew their magi staffs in weapon mode, ready to fight.

"Fire monster," Maggie smirked. "Just my forte." Hunter, Nick and Xander charged first, all three boys being shot down. Chip, Vida, and Maddie fired from their magi staffs only for their attacks to be returned. Maggie was left standing. "Hit me with your best shot," she challenged. Magma fired at her, causing her to disappear in a giant ball of flames.

With him distracted by attacking Maggie, the others tried to charge once again. Daggeron held him off from the others long enough for them to get a blow or two in, but they were always tossed away. Xander was knocked into Maddie from Magma's mace before he used it to knock Nick and Hunter away. Daggeron was thrown back. "Weak rangers," Magma scoffed.

"Okay," Nick spoke as they regrouped, Maggie still covered by the fire ball. "He seems to be just a little tougher than the others we've battled."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Magma stated. He fired another fire attack at them, sending them to the ground as Maggie took it in. "You have lost your will to fight, so I no longer have business with you. I will go and plan for the destruction."

"Think again," Maggie called, finally releasing herself from the fire ball, which had grown rather big thanks to her added powers. She fired it, hitting Magma dead on. When the smoke cleared, Magma was on the ground and Maggie's ranger suit was on fire. Magma vanished before he could be hit again, and Maggie turned the flames off.

* * *

"I can't believe we got blasted like that," Nick huffed as they were all in Rootcore discussing the fight. They had hoped it would've gone a little better, and everyone was tense because of it. Hunter was staying out of the conversation, not wanting to start a fight. Maggie was waiting for the right moment to jump in.

"Maybe there was something I could have done," Maddie bit her lip. "Or I should've done but I…"

"Give it a rest, sis," Vida cut her off. "We got our butts handed to us plain and simple."

"Hey, you don't have to be so hard on Maddie," Chip jumped in. Then began a three way argument, Nick trying to intervene.

Xander walked over. "Have any of you guys seen Clare?"

"No!" the four answered, startling the green ranger.

"I asked a simple question," he huffed. "You don't have to bite my head off."

"Well go look for her yourself," Vida snapped.

Daggeron had enough. "Hey!" he slammed the Xenotome shut, loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "You sound like a bunch of spoiled children. We lost. We got our butts kicked. We are up against an enemy the likes we have never faced before. If we cannot be a unified force, we stand no chance at all. We do not blame each other. We do not take it out on each other. We wait for our next opportunity and then we do our best to kick butt."

"But the only one who managed to land a hit on him was Maggie," Xander pointed out.

"Because as a fire ninja, I can absorb his attacks and use it to my advantage," the brunette explained. "Making the attack more powerful than it originally was and making it able to injure my opponent. Same thing goes with any ninja and their element."

"What about the flames on your suit?" Vida looked at her sister.

"That I'm not really sure about," she sighed. "Last time it happened was a couple years ago when the dino thunder team fought off a volcano and lava based monster. I guess I'm able to absorb the flames and give myself an extra power up of sorts." The crystal ball sounded, turning their attention to it.

* * *

When the end of the day came, things were back to normal. Magma was destroyed, Maddie was happy she finally had her moment to save the day, and Maggie was happy to have her son back home from school. It was a tough fight, but they managed to save everyone as usual. Now all the rangers were heading back to the Rock Porium to celebrate the destruction of the first Terror.

"So nice of you to show up," Toby greeted his employees. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather be out doing whatever it is you do when you're out doing what you do do?"

"Sorry boss," Xander apologized.

"Well, apology not accepted," Toby denied. "That's why I've decided to hire a new employee." A familiar blonde stepped out of Toby's office, carrying a basket of CDs to be stacked on the shelves.

"Leelee?" the rangers raised an eyebrow. Maggie felt herself tense up, and Hunter sensed it too as he wrapped an arm around her. Though she didn't work here, Maggie still hated the blonde.

"Yep," Toby nodded. "And she promised not to go running off all the time like some other people whose names I – Nick, Vida, Xander, Chip, Madison – am not going to mention."

Nick decided to speak up. "Toby, you can't hire her. Her mom is…" Despite her hatred for the blonde, Maggie stepped on Nick's foot, hard, preventing him from spilling anything ranger related. "Welcome on board, Leelee."

"Thanks," she shrugged. Toby vanished into his office. "Love to stay and chat, but I have work to do." Then she got serious. "You keep my secret, I keep yours."

* * *

A/N: Well, that's that. Another chapter done. Only eight more left.


	25. The Hunter

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 25: The Hunter**

_A/N: Not sure how this one will go. I don't think I've written this one in my other mystic force story, so bear with me. Not sure what I'll have happen in this chapter, and I'm not sure how I'll have this go. Either way, whatever happens in this chapter, I hope you like it._

_Also, since in this episode the monster makes them disappear to nowhere, I figured I'd have them actually be sent somewhere. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"Find anything?" Hunter asked as he and Maggie were working at the new Storm Chargers. Ever since Leelee had been hired at the Rock Porium, Maggie had been avoiding that place as much as she possibly could. She still hated the blonde, and the others knew it. Now that the others were back in school, her brothers had come up to Briarwood, going to the local college like the other rangers were, and it gave the two ninjas more help around the shop.

"Nothing," the orange ranger sighed. "At least, not much." Since Clare had left the rangers and Daggeron alone so she could focus on finding Udonna, Maggie decided she would try and do some research about the Ten Terrors and dig up what she could about them. So far, she had found little to nothing about them, and she was becoming frustrated.

"What did you find?" he wondered. The two were fixing a bike in the back room as Maggie's brothers and sister ran the front of the shop. The two were allowed to talk freely, since no one could hear them.

Maggie recalled what she had found. "They're all a pain in the ass and each has a different thing. Apparently, they all play games, and if their opponent loses, it'll be able to take over the world or something like that."

"But aren't they after the light?" Hunter frowned.

"In this case, yes," she nodded. "There's some weird selection ceremony that decides which one gets to attack next, and it's all some thought out process."

"So in other words, the chances of us being screwed on this are…"

"Higher than normal," she finished. "They're stronger than most things we've fought before, there's no doubt about that. It's a matter of figuring out what game they plan on playing and how we can outsmart them."

Hunter shook his head. "We're in for shit, aren't we?"

"What gave you that idea?" Maggie smirked. She stood up and wiped her hands on a rag before grabbing a set of keys hanging on the hook of a wall. "Wanna come with to pick up Bentley from school?"

"Nah," he shook his head. "I wanna finish this bike before we close and maybe be able to get out earlier." Maggie shrugged and left the shop. When he was sure she was gone, he moved over to the counter where Roger, Ronald, and Penny were stationed. "All right. What do you have for ideas?"

The three Chilman teens smirked.

* * *

"This is a dangerous time for you, Nick," Maggie heard Daggeron say to the red ranger as she found the two and Fire Heart in the woods, talking. Bentley had wanted to see Fire Heart, and Maggie figured now was as good a time as any to bring him to see the dragon. No battles had been called and she didn't have to be back to work for another hour.

"What's new?" he scoffed. Fire Heart nudged the red ranger with his nose.

"The terrors know you're the light," Maggie stepped in, holding her son's hand. "They'll more than likely come for you. They'll probably try to use everything in their power to deceive you, capture you, and destroy you."

"Why does it sound like you've been through this before?" Nick faced her, confused.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Because I have. I've been kidnapped a couple times before. Once was by my uncle who tried to take over the world a few years ago."

"I get it," Nick rolled his eyes.

"No you don't," Daggeron stated. "But nice try. When the time is right, you will understand, and you will also realize your connection to Fire Heart."

"Fire Heart?" Nick raised an eyebrow. The dragon let out a loud roar. "I got to get back to work."

Maggie turned toward her son. "Come on Bentley. We gotta go too."

* * *

Not long after returning to work, all the rangers had been called to the middle of the city for a battle, one of the terrors being spotted. Maggie left her son with her brothers and sister at the shop as she and Hunter went to join the others to help them in the fight. When they arrived morphed onto the scene, they found the white armored terror with a glowing red eye in the middle of the head.

"Let the hunt begin," he smirked as the rangers approached. "I am Oculous the Hunter, and you are my quarry. But I'll make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Maddie questioned.

"What kind of a deal?" Xander followed up.

"I only want the red ranger," Oculous stated. "If he surrenders to me now, the rest of you will be spared. Interested?"

"He's the hunter, and we're the prey?" Chip frowned, catching on.

Oculous nodded. "That's right. And I'm the best. Just surrender red ranger, and spare me the trouble."

"Forget it," Nick scoffed. "We don't go down without a fight."

"Okay," Oculous shrugged. "I'll send your friends to another dimension one by one with my lasers. If I don't have all six by sundown, I'll surrender. That's the game."

"Well then game on!" Nick agreed as they all pulled out their magi staffs, ready to fight. Before they could do anything, Oculous fired at them, disappearing before the smoke cleared. When it did, he was no longer in sight.

"Where'd he go?" Vida demanded as they ran to where he was just standing, looking around.

"This would be a good time to point out that we're in deep shit if we can't find him," Maggie brought up. She was not liking this terror already, and she hoped the fight would be over soon.

Hunter sighed. "He's going to be back."

From nowhere, they heard his voice. _"Rangers, the hunt is on. I can be anywhere. I suggest you start running!" _He fired at them, Chip seeing the laser heading for them and blocking it.

"He's up in the window!" he pointed. They all turned and looked where he pointed.

"He's not so smart after all," Nick snorted. As beams headed for them from that window and they used their magi staffs to block it, the red ranger was hit in the back of the leg, falling down. They all went to check up on him.

"That blast came from the other direction," Maddie realized. "How?"

"Watch it!" Hunter yelled as a beam was fired at them. Multiple beams came in all directions and the rangers blocked them, wondering what exactly was going on.

"We got to get Nick out of here," Xander pulled the red ranger up. Chip helped him and the two boys helped him hobble along. As they started away, Xander was hit in the back and he vanished in a red glow.

They knew they had to move quickly.

* * *

"We got to keep moving," Maddie huffed as they got back to their feet after being fired at. They raised their wands, chanting the same quick spell that transported them out of the city and into the woods, giving them a bit of cover from the trees.

When they were in the forest, they stopped for a moment, hoping to figure out what exactly was going on and how they were going to defeat this Terror if he wasn't showing his face. "We should make a break for Rootcore," Vida suggested.

"I don't wanna jeopardize the base," Nick denied. "This guy can follow us anywhere."

"I'm running out of suggestions," Chip sighed. "If this was a role-playing game, I'd give myself a time out."

"At least we have some cover from the trees," Hunter pointed out. Out of nowhere, a laser hit the tree behind them, causing it to vanish. A few more trees were hit with the same laser, and the rangers were now in a more open field.

Maggie gave her boyfriend a pointed look through the helmet visor. "You were saying?"

"Guess I spoke too soon," he sighed.

"_You can't hide from me!" _A shot came out of nowhere and hit Vida, causing her to disappear just like Xander had.

"This is not good," Maggie groaned. Before they could get up and move, she was hit as well, and she too disappeared.

* * *

When Maggie reappeared, she noticed she was on an island covered in grass, bushes, plants, trees, and everything else in that nature. It felt familiar to her, almost as if she had been here before. As she looked around, she noticed Vida and Xander were standing next to her, doing the same thing. "Where are we?" the green ranger demanded. "What's going on?"

"This must be the other dimension he sent us to," Vida realized as she recalled what Oculous had said earlier.

"We're screwed," Maggie grumbled. Vida and Xander turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait, do you know where we are?" Xander questioned.

"If memory serves me correctly, we're on the Island of Illusions," she sighed. "Come on. Let's move before we start seeing things we don't want to."

Vida frowned as they followed her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

* * *

"So what exactly is this place?" Xander asked again as they continued walking around the island. Maggie was leading them around, a plan forming in her mind. She was hoping to find the little elf guy she had met her first time here, and she was wondering if anything had changed since her trip here the first time.

"The Island of Illusions," she repeated. "Whoever lands here ends up seeing their worst fears. Trust me when I say it's far from fun."

"You've been here before?" Vida raised an eyebrow. Seeing her sister nod, she continued. "What did you see as your fear?"

"Let's just say that after I got back to our dimension," she sighed. "I couldn't tell real from unreal for at least a week." Vida and Xander exchanged nervous looks. "Now if only I can find that little duck, we can hopefully get out of here."

"Little duck?" Xander blinked.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I can't remember his name. He's a little elf creature with red hair, wearing a little green costume, plays the flute, reminds me of an annoying duck of some sort. I know his name starts with a q, but I can't think of what exactly his name was. He spoke in rhyme."

"So we're gonna be annoyed to death if we find him?" Vida questioned.

"Depends on if we lose our minds first or not," she shrugged. Before they could take another step, Maddie appeared in front of them, no longer in morph like the other three. "Oh, good."

"Where am I?" Maddie looked at her sisters and Xander.

"Just tag along," Maggie groaned. "Now what was that little elf's name?"

Maddie looked to the other two, who could only shrug.

* * *

The rangers continued walking along the island, Maggie filling them in on what she knew about it. So far, they had yet to see the small elf creature she was talking about, and she was trying to figure out what his name was. Nothing had come up out of the ordinary, and since Maddie appeared, so did Chip. Maggie was glad nothing came up out of the ordinary yet, and she was starting to wonder if the elf creature was still here.

All of a sudden, she stopped. "Oh no. It's happening again."

"What's happening again?" Chip frowned. "What's going on?" They all noticed Maggie tensing up as her breathing began to pick up. Vida and Maddie placed a hand each on their sister's shoulders.

"Hey, what's happening to her?" Xander asked as he noticed Maggie begin to disappear. The other three noticed it and stepped back a bit, wondering what was going on now.

"Maggie, say something," Vida pleaded.

To their shock, she shouted out a name. "Quagmire!" Adding to their surprise, all five found a small little elf creature appear near them, the same one Maggie had described.

"Remember what you've been taught," he advised. "Think a positive thought." He vanished again, leaving the others speechless.

"You guys saw that too, right?" Maddie looked at her teammates, who all nodded. Within seconds, Maggie found herself back to normal. "What just happened?"

"This island is cursed to make you see your fear," Maggie let out a sigh of relief. "If you doubt yourself, you'll start to disappear. Now, what happened to Quagmire?"

The little elf appeared again, smiling. He remembered Maggie from a few years back. "If you begin to doubt and fear, just call my name and I'll appear."

"Please don't speak in rhyme and tell us how we got off of this place," Maggie pleaded.

Quagmire rolled his eyes. "To get off the island, you all have to conquer your fears, be rescued by an outside force, or have the thing that sent you here defeated." He vanished, leaving the rangers alone.

Before anyone else could move, they all vanished.

* * *

When the five rangers reappeared, they found Hunter and Nick in the woods, just demorphing from destroying Oculous. Maggie hugged her boyfriend close, afraid to let him go. They knew they were back because Hunter and Nick were there and the surroundings were different from those on the island they were sent to.

After greeting them ad explaining what had happened on both sides, the rangers set off for home. Nick had explained how he used his connection to Fire Heart and gained a new power up for his use only, and Hunter helped explain how they destroyed Oculous. Maggie then explained how they ended up on the Island of Illusions and what it was for Nick's benefit, since Hunter already knew about it. When explanations were done, five of the seven rangers went to the Rock Porium for work as Hunter and Maggie went back to the Storm Chargers next to it.

"What'd you see this time?" Hunter asked as they were once again working on fixing up a bike. They had just closed shop for the day, and the two were staying late to finish up the bike. Maggie's siblings had taken Bentley home for the night.

"You dead," she sighed. "We weren't there long enough for me to lose my mind like I did last time when I saw most of them dead."

"I doubt you would've lost your mind again," he rolled his eyes.

"I think the others think I did the minute I started speaking about it," she chuckled. "After all, why would they believe me when I start talking about a little elf dude that's like an annoying duck?"

"Point taken."

* * *

A/N: Well, sorry for sucky ending. Anyway, up next is Hard Heads. What'll happen then?


	26. Hard Heads

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 26: Hard Heads**

_A/N: Okay, so normally, in the episode, it's Vida and Nick who get into a fight, but what if Vida is mad at Maggie and Nick for different reasons? What happens when the three of them can't morph because of it? What'll happen to cause Vida to become mad at her older sister? Will any other characters appear in this chapter? _

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

It was another day in mid September that found most of the rangers working their shifts at either store. Maddie, Nick, and Xander were currently working in the music shop, with Leelee on duty as well. As far as they knew, Hunter and Maggie were in the sports shop next store working on whatever they had to do over there. After turning Leelee away for needing help, Maggie came running into the store and hid behind the counter, between the green and blue rangers.

"Vida is in a groove today," Maddie commented.

"That's not Vida," Maggie popped up.

Maddie caught the look on her older sister's face. "What did you do?" Maggie smirked and whispered in her sister's ear, causing the blue ranger's eyes to widen. "You didn't."

"Didn't what?" Xander looked between the two girls.

"I may have locked her and Chip in a closet so they could work out their feelings for each other and stop dancing around it," Maggie bit her lip.

Xander shrugged. "Well, looks like there's a new DJ in town." They turned toward the turntables where they found Nick spinning a few tracks.

"I don't know what Vida's gonna freak out about more," Maddie groaned. "Her sister locking her in a closet with her crush or Nick working on the turntables." At that moment, the door slammed open, catching everyone's attention. They all saw Vida looking none too pleased at the orange ranger.

"Uh-oh," Maggie started backing away slowly as Vida stepped in, glaring at her and Nick. Maggie backed up onto the stage, Vida following.

"Hey," the pink ranger spoke to Nick first, blocking the exit to the stage.

"What's up, V?" Nick asked.

Vida was in no mood to mess around. "You're on my tables – that's what's up."

"Oh," he realized. "Didn't think you'd mind."

"Yeah well you thought wrong," Vida stated. "I do mind. Look, I had the levels set exactly where I like them. Now they're all over the place, and this stylus is really sensitive. If you're not careful, you could ruin the needle."

"Vida, relax," Maggie decided to step in. "Technically, it's not your equipment. It belongs to the store, meaning anyone can use it."

Vida glared at her sister. "Don't think I'm not gonna yell at you later for what happened earlier. I'm still mad about it." Then she turned back to Nick. "I'm the one who takes care of the equipment. Right, Toby?"

"Well, I uh…" the shop owner did not want to be thrown into the middle of the argument. "Anyone, uh, heard this new Cameron McIver CD?"

"Guys, guys," Maddie decided to intervene. "This is a ridiculous thing to argue about. Why don't you just apologize to each other and drop it?"

"You're right, sis," Vida smirked. "I'm willing to say sorry if they do."

"Hey, I did it for your own good!" Maggie defended herself.

"After you," Nick offered. "I insist."

Vida got angry again. "Well I'm not going to."

"Guys!" Toby interrupted. "You need to calm down, okay? So maybe you want to take it outside, or, I don't know, but you're creating a real bummer scene in here."

Vida walked away, dragging Maggie with her. Nick followed.

* * *

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Vida demanded as she, Maggie, and Nick walked along through the city. Vida wanted to get things out of the way, and she didn't need everyone overhearing her. "Just admit you were wrong." So far, she was solving the issue with Nick, waiting to solve the one she had with Maggie later.

"Me?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who jumped down my throat – 'nobody can touch my tables.'"

"Man you didn't even check with me," Vida huffed. Their arguing was cut short when the sky rumbled and one of the terrors appeared.

"Toad monster?" Nick frowned.

"Like I need this right now," the pink ranger scoffed.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Can we stop arguing for one moment so we can take this ugly thing down?"

"What do you want?" Nick looked up at the toad monster.

"You'll find out soon enough," he replied. "Take this!" he fired water at them and the three jumped out of the way, rolling to their feet once more.

All three pulled out their morphers. "Legendary Source, Mystic Force!" The three morphed into legend warrior mode and began fighting off the toad. Nick and Maggie knocked him down by combining their fire storms and Vida joined them. The toad stood.

"See if you can catch me," he challenged, beginning to run away.

"That won't be a problem," Vida snarled. "Get him!" as they chased after him, they were stopped by him. The toad sprayed water once more, and Nick grabbed the two girls and ducks under the blast, preventing it from hitting them. However, they ended up rolling right in the line of fire.

"Yeah!" the toad cheered as they came to a stop and got back to their feet. "My slime will give Serpentina a better chance." Out of nowhere, Daggeron appeared and shot the toad back. He and the other rangers appeared next to them.

"Nick, Vida, Maggie, are you all right?" he asked.

The three replied. "We're fine."

"You shouldn't have called your friends," the toad stood back up. "Now I have to stomp all of you." He grew to megazord size, causing the rangers to form their megazords. Before they could even begin the fight, the toad disappeared.

* * *

"We got to find out what that toad's plan is," Xander spoke as the rangers sat around Rootcore after the fight. "Was there anything unusual about him?" Vida was still angry at Nick and Maggie, but she wasn't going to deal with that while they had bigger issues to handle.

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "He slimed us with some gross toad juice."

"Ugh," Maddie grumbled. "Toads."

"But it didn't do anything to us," Vida assured.

"We don't know that yet," Maggie pointed out.

Nick agreed with the pink ranger. "Yeah. She's still as wrong as she ever was."

"For the last time," Vida rolled her eyes. "You are the ones that are wrong."

"Hey, I thought it would help," Maggie defended herself once more. Of course, only a few of the rangers in the room knew what Maggie was talking about.

"There must've been a side effect to that frog juice," Hunter theorized. "There's never not when it comes to being sprayed with weird stuff."

"Yeah," Chip agreed. "You guys are obviously under some sort of 'I can't stand your guts' spell."

Vida shook her head. "No, that pretty much happened before the slime."

"Guys," Maddie spoke up. "With Udonna gone, now is not the time for fighting. Like it or not, you three are gonna have to work together." Vida and Nick huffed as Maggie backed away from her sister a bit. The crystal ball went off.

* * *

The rangers ran onto the scene, finding Daggeron battling off a giant sized Serpentina. She had sent snakes to attack the city with their poison, and now the rangers had to stop them. All seven rangers came to a stop a safe distance away from the megazord fight, which ensured they wouldn't accidentally be crushed. "Come on," Nick ordered. "Let's ranger up."

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

All of them aside from Vida, Nick, and Maggie were now morphed.

"Why didn't we morph?" Vida demanded, looking frantically at the others.

"It's that slime we were sprayed with," Maggie realized. "Something in it must be blocking our morphing ability."

"Daggeron needs our help," Xander stated. "We'll figure out this morphing malfunction later. Let's go!" as he and the other three morphed rangers ran off to help the knight, the other three stayed behind.

Nick sighed. "I can't believe we have to just stand here and watch."

"Well maybe you two can think about apologizing to me again," Vida suggested.

"Can we shelve that for now?" Nick scoffed. "These guys are in big trouble."

"But what can we do?" Vida countered. They watched the zords crash to the ground. "They're losing. We got to do something!"

Maggie got an idea. "We still have our magic, and I still got my extra powers. We can combine them and distract her somehow."

"How about a spell to knock her off balance?" the pink ranger mused. The other two nodded and pointed their wands at the serpent monster. They chanted a spell loudly, hitting her dead on and causing her to lose her footing.

To their surprise, the monster shrunk down and zoomed toward them. Seeing it coming, Maggie put up a shield around the three just as Daggeron shot the snake back. Daggeron sent Jenji to attack and he began fighting, only to be thrown back. Serpentina called on more snakes and they attacked Jenji as the other rangers appeared.

"What did you do to him?" Vida demanded.

"You'll see," the snake smirked. Jenji disappeared back inside his lamp. He popped up only to turn to stone. "Soon my snakes will bite everyone in the human world. And when my shield activates, they will all turn to stone."

"You're not gonna get away with this," Vida swore.

"If you want to keep fighting," Serpentina began. "You'll have to play by my rules. Come to my serpent dimension." She vanished, leaving the rangers alone.

Maddie and Maggie turned to the frozen Jenji. "Jenji, we know what you're going through."

"We have to defeat Serpentina to break the spell," Vida stated. "That's what worked on you two."

"Then we must follow her into her dimension," Daggeron nodded. "Xander, Madison, Chip, Hunter, you're with me."

"Wait, what about us?" Nick wondered.

"We can't leave the rest of the city unprotected," Daggeron pointed out. The morphed rangers ran off, leaving the other three behind.

* * *

"Man I can't believe we have to stay behind," Vida groaned. She, Nick, and Maggie were hanging out in the Storm Chargers after being refused to be let back in the Rock Porium by Toby until they solved their issues. Storm Chargers was open, and with her siblings working in the front, Maggie was working in the back on a bike, taking part in the conversation.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "I don't like it either."

"So, uh," Vida bit her lip. "What was that mashup you were playing before? It sounded pretty tight."

"Oh, uh, I can show it to you if you want," Nick offered. "Well, when Toby lets us back in. But I'd have to use your tables."

Vida chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess I did overreact a little."

"No no no," Nick denied. "I should've checked with you before I messed with your set up. So…"

"I'm sorry," both said at the same time.

"About time you two got it solved," Maggie smirked.

"Hey, I still got a bone to pick with you," Vida pointed out.

Maggie shrugged. "I'm only sorry if it didn't work and don't blame me for following through on a dare."

"It didn't wor…wait, what?" Vida paused mid sentence. "You locked me and Chip in a closet because you were dared to?"

"Yes, and don't lie," Maggie grinned. "I know it did work. You're forgetting I was raised by the king of liars."

"Dammit," Vida cursed her memory. "We agreed not to do anything until after this ranger gig is over, just to ease your mind. And who dared you? I wanna know so I can rip their throat out."

"But if it worked, then why would you want to rip their throat out?" Maggie questioned. "It turned out for the best in the long run, didn't it?"

Vida thought for a moment. "I guess you got a good point."

* * *

By the time the day came to an end, everything was back to normal. Vida was no longer mad at Nick and Maggie and they had all managed to defeat Serpentina. Everyone was finishing work or at home for the night, relaxing now that another terror had been destroyed. No one felt like doing anything more than relaxing after the fight, and that's what they were doing.

Maggie and Hunter were relaxing at their house, Penny, Roger, and Ronald babysitting Bentley for the night so the two could have a date night. Both had decided to just stay in and watch movies all night, not wanting to do something outside the house. It was a relaxing night, and they couldn't think of a better way to spend it at the moment.

* * *

A/N: Another sucky ending, I know. But I hardly write this episode, and I hardly write the Snow Prince episode. I have something planned for the Light Source arc, but it's nothing major. Only six more chapters.


	27. The Snow Prince

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 27: The Snow Prince**

_A/N: Okay, since I've never done this episode before (and have only seen it once or twice before), I am not sure how exactly this chapter will turn out. Please bear with me as this chapter goes on and whatnot, and I hope it comes out pretty good. Not too many chapters left in the story after this one, and I have a couple things planned for the end of the story._

_Since most of this episode is fight scenes and scenes with only Nick and Daggeron in it, this might end up being a bit of a filler._

_This chapter may also be a bit short._

___If you haven't done so already, please vote in the poll on my profile! More info about it can be found in the previous two chapters of my House of Rangers story._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

"I feel fat," Skyla grumbled as she sat up in the hospital bed, waiting to give birth. Maggie and Leanne were getting worried that she was a couple weeks overdue. Their relief came when Shane had called them earlier in the morning and said that she had finally gone into labor. Both doctors were in the room with her as Shane went to the bathroom using the one attached to the room.

"It's natural," Maggie stated. "I felt that way towards the end of my pregnancy with Bentley. Of course, I gave birth to him on schedule, and you're a bit overdue, but oh well."

"As soon as Shane gets back in here, we can start," Leanne spoke. "You sure you don't want the epidural?"

"I'm sure," the Carmanian nodded.

Maggie sighed. "Good luck, then." Leanne smacked her upside the head. "What? It hurts!"

"Yes, but it's all worth it in the end," Leanne rolled her eyes as Shane exited the bathroom.

"Ready, bro?" Maggie looked over to her brother.

Shane went and stood by his fiancé's side. "Yeah."

* * *

"Hey, Hunter," Vida entered Storm Chargers a while later in the morning, hoping to find her sister around somewhere. She and her two sisters were planning to spend a day together, just the three of them, and Maggie was nowhere in sight at the moment. "Have you seen your girlfriend around?"

"She got paged in to work this morning," he replied as he approached the counter and faced her. "Apparently Skyla finally went into labor and she had to be there. Something to do with knowing more about Carmanians than Leanne and whatnot."

"Great," Vida huffed. "Which means she won't be back until this afternoon. Damn."

"Why?" Hunter frowned.

"Me, Maddie, and Maggie were going to spend the day together," she sighed. "With you working here, Chip, Xander, and Leelee next door, and Daggeron helping Nick with his training, we were going to take a girls day and go do stuff."

Hunter shrugged. "She should be back by this afternoon. But then again, it's possible she'll spend time with her niece or nephew and be gone all day."

"If she does, then she owes us," Vida stated. She turned to leave, but Hunter called her back. "Yeah?"

"I need your opinion on something."

* * *

"Congratulations," Maggie smiled as she handed the baby wrapped in a pink blanket to the new mother. Leanne had a camera ready and was taking a few pictures of the family of three. "It's a girl. I have a niece!" Shane rolled his eyes at his sister. He knew she would be excited to have someone other than her son to spoil.

"What are you gonna name her?" Leanne wondered as she pulled out a few papers.

"We never really thought of names," Skyla shared a look with her fiancé. "We were focusing more on the wedding plans than a name."

"Plus we both thought our first kid would be a boy," Shane added.

A beeping filled the room. "Well, when you find a name, let me know," Maggie shrugged, checking her morpher. "I gotta go."

* * *

"Okay, can I just ask one more thing?" Vida asked as she and Maddie finished listening to Hunter explain an idea he had. Since their girls day was ruined with Maggie being in Blue Bay harbor, they decided they would help out Hunter with a problem he was having. Now that he had finished explaining with few questions from both girls, they were finishing up the talk.

"What?" Hunter pressed. He was desperate for any opinions he could get on his idea, and so far, everyone he talked to seemed to agree with him.

"Why are you telling us this and not one of her other siblings, like Shane or Porter or one of them?" Vida questioned.

Hunter sighed. "Because there are only a certain amount of people I can talk to about it. I can't talk to Tori because while she can keep a secret, if Maggie asks her if something's up, she can't lie to save her life. I can't talk to Lily because there's _no _secrets between them. I already told her other three Chilman siblings, who have all helped me with this. I can't tell anyone else from our first team because over half of them don't know we've been dating for the past three years. And finally, if I tell Kelly, she'll question me about it until I'm close to dying. Plus, I needed to ask you two anyway because you're also her sisters."

"Well, I don't have a problem with it," Maddie shrugged. "Though you may want to ask our mom."

"What do you…"

"We're half sisters through our mom," Vida reminded the blonde. "Shane and Porter are her half brothers through her dad. Oh, and did you ask Bentley? I have a feeling that if you don't have his okay, then Maggie won't…"

"He already knows," Hunter rolled his eyes. "I don't think he completely understands, but he knows."

* * *

Maggie wasn't sure where exactly she was. All she knew what one minute she was trying to find what caused her morpher to go off, and the next, she was standing in snow with no sky around, yet it was still snowing. She noticed Daggeron and Nick there as well, and she began to wonder what happened to the others, if they were even here. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Where are we?" Nick added.

"In the realm of the Snow Prince," Daggeron stated. "He is mentor to the original mystic warriors, including your father, Nick. I fear he's been watching you train."

The said man appeared in front of them out of nowhere. He wasn't exactly a human like the other three were, but they knew who he was just by guessing. Daggeron took a knee, prompting the other two to do the same.

"Great teacher," Daggeron spoke. "It is an honor."

"Welcome. Daggeron," the prince greeted. "And you are the red mystic ranger, Bowen?" He looked to Nick.

"Nick," he corrected.

"It has come to my attention that one of you has strayed off the path of knowledge," Snow Prince mused.

"Don't be hard on him, teacher," Daggeron realized where this was going, or so he thought. "Nick is very bright, but sometimes a little headstrong."

However, the prince turned the tables. "No, Daggeron, it is you who needs to learn a lesson. It is my bidding that for this day, you will become a student again. And you two, Bowen and Margret, will be the teachers."

"Wait a minute," Maggie blinked as they stood. "One, how did you know my name, and two, what exactly is going on?"

Before she could get her answers, they vanished.

* * *

After having seen how well Daggeron knew how to ride a regular motorcycle as the start of his training and after having fought off Megahorn at megazord size the first time, Nick and Maggie knew they had jobs to continue that were given by the Snow Prince. Maggie was still confused as to what exactly was going on. The Snow Prince had helped them out during the fight, confusing the others as to why he was there. After seeing him fight, they were rather impressed.

The rangers had ended up in a quarry facing off against Megahorn once more. Daggeron had come to their rescue, and none of them were willing to give up. Daggeron had learned the lesson the Snow Prince wanted him to learn from Maggie and Nick, even though the orange ranger still had no idea what the hell was going on aside from the current fight. By the time the fight was over after Megahorn was destroyed by the rangers, everything was back to normal.

"Which one of you wants to try first?" Daggeron wondered as he stood next to his magic carpet, giving Nick and Maggie a lesson on how to ride one properly. They were back in the words, working on some training.

"I'll give it a shot," Maggie shrugged. She climbed up on it and set off, finding her balance easily. She rode it around a few laps around a small area before coming to a stop and hopping off. "Piece of cake."

"Nick, your turn," Daggeron stated. Nick climbed on the magic carpet as Daggeron hopped on the red ranger's motorcycle. He followed Nick as the red ranger had trouble riding the carpet, and Maggie used her ninja streak to follow them. Daggeron came to a stop as did Maggie as they watched Nick float and try to gain his balance. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"This magic carpet thing is a bit tricky," Nick spoke. "How did you do this so easily?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "It's all about finding balance. As part of my ninja training, I had to learn different ways to find my balance."

"Either way," Nick began losing his. "I could really use a lesson or two."

"Very well," Daggeron grinned. "The first lesson is…balance!" he gave the carpet a little shove and sent Nick flying, laughing as he watched.

Maggie looked to the older wizard. "Mind if I take off? Still don't know why I'm here in the first place."

Daggeron shrugged, giving her what she needed to take off.

* * *

Maggie made her way back into the hospital to see her new niece. She wanted to find out the name of the newborn, and though they could've just called and told her, she didn't want them to. She wanted them to spend a few hours alone with their newborn daughter, and she figured now would be a good time to visit them. There were no fights to get to now that the one for the day was done, giving her plenty of time.

When she reached the right room, she knocked, getting the okay to enter it. "Did you name her yet?"

"Yeah," Shane nodded. Skyla was sleeping in the bed, so they were talking in hushed tones. He was sitting in a nearby chair, holding his sleeping daughter.

"Well?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.

"Lucy Mae," he replied.

* * *

A/N: I feel like this chapter isn't very good. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, which begins the Light Source arc.


	28. The Light Source Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 28: Light Source**

**Part I**

_A/N: Okay, so I'm not sure how exactly these next two chapters are going to go, and I have an idea for the next few on how those should go. Anyone have any ideas what Hunter was talking about in the last chapter? What'll happen in this arc? Will Maggie reveal any of her past to the others who don't know?_

_This chapter may not be exactly like the episode. It may also be short._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own thins not originally in the show._

* * *

"You're kidding, right?" Kelly raised an eyebrow as she looked at her employee. She couldn't believe what she was just hearing, and she was wondering where it came from. The red head stared at the brunette across from her in the not so crowded Storm Chargers in Blue Bay Harbor. "What would make you think that?"

"I don't know," Maggie shrugged. "I mean, he's been acting kind of weird lately. We haven't gone on a date in weeks and he doesn't seem to really talk to me a lot anymore. What am I supposed to think?"

"Maybe he's trying to figure something out," Kelly shrugged. "Maybe he found out something and his mind is trying to process it?"

"Like what?" Maggie frowned.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "How should I know? But what would make you think he's cheating on you? And if he is, why would you think he was cheating on you with Leelee?"

"I don't know," Maggie sighed. "I mean, if he is cheating on me, and if it is with Leelee…well, she's a bitch and…I don't know. I just…. I just don't know."

"Look, try talking to him," the red head advised. "Before you jump the gun and accuse him of something he's not doing, talk to him." She thought for a moment. "You know something?"

"What?" Maggie gave an exasperated look.

"I've never seen you care about a boy you dated before like you care about Hunter," she smirked. "If he makes you feel like that, then I highly doubt he's cheating on you."

Maggie let out a small chuckle. "And what would you know? You won't even talk about your boyfriend which we all know you have no matter how much you try to deny it." She walked out of the shop. When she was out of sight and hearing range, Kelly dialed a number on her phone and spoke right away when the person on the other end picked up.

"She's starting to worry. You better act fast."

* * *

Maggie appeared in the Rock Porium when she returned to Briarwood. She wanted to talk to her sisters about what she had talked to Kelly about to see if they knew anything. She had yet to see Hunter, but she knew he was either working at the academy or at the shop. Shaking her head, she made her way in to the music store just catching the start of a conversation the other five rangers were having.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Leelee?" Maddie asked the red ranger as Maggie approached. "I mean, if it was Maggie who said that, I could understand, but…"

"Wait, why if it came from her?" Xander interrupted. Maggie rolled her eyes and whispered the reason into Vida's ear, causing the pink ranger's eyes to widen.

"She what?" she gasped. "I'll kill her!"

"Maggie almost did," Maddie pointed out.

Vida frowned. "When?"

"When you three," Maggie pointed at Nick, Vida, and Xander. "Got turned into vampires. I was trying to see if she knew anything. The only things keeping me from killing her were Maddie and the fact that I didn't want to become like or end up in the same place as…"

"Okay, that I get," Vida cut in, understanding. "But still, I'm gonna kick her ass for that."

Chip decided to intervene. "What are you three talking about?"

"Nothing," the three girls chorused.

"Getting back on topic," Xander turned the attention back to Nick. "Look, I'm not a big fan of hers, especially after we found out who she is…"

"No one's ever how they appear to be," Maggie scoffed, interrupting.

"…but I hate to see anyone be crushed," Xander finished, sending the orange ranger a glare for cutting him off.

Nick looked to the yellow ranger. "Think I was too harsh, Chip?"

"I've seen tigers with less teeth," he admitted a bit hesitantly.

"Guys," Nick huffed. "Just because she looks cute and harmless doesn't mean she is. She's evil. Her mom is the vampire that almost got me, Vida, and Xander. They took Udonna's powers? Hello? We can't trust her."

"Oh, so now you guys listen to me," Maggie grumbled. "I've been saying that all along!"

"She does come from a long lineage of bloodsuckers," Chip added. At that moment, their morphers rang.

"That's probably Leelee's guy right now," Nick theorized.

When he flipped open his morpher, Daggeron's voice came on the line. _"Guys, Udonna's been captured. There's a terror attacking the city."_

"What'd I tell you?" Nick finished. "Come on."

* * *

As her teammates went to stop the frog monster that kidnapped Udonna, Maggie had other plans. She figured that Clare would go out and try to find the older woman, so she figured that her teammates could handle defeating the terror, she would grab one of her friends and hopefully join Clare, giving the young girl a little back-up at hand in case she needed any. The brunette found herself entering Blue Bay General hospital.

Maggie had no problem finding where exactly Leanne was, considering she worked her. Donning her work uniform, she made her way to an OR where a nurse said Leanne was scrubbing in. Even though they were just interns, they had opportunities to scrub in. She opened the door, spotting her sister right away. "Dr. Watanabe," she began, knowing she had to be formal in front of the residents and attendings in the room. Leanne turned to her. "There's a family emergency…"

"What family member?" Leanne asked.

"Your aunt and cousin," Maggie replied quickly, knowing the red head would understand. Leanne exchanged a few words with the resident in charge and was allowed to leave.

"What's the emergency?" she asked as the two girls began leaving the hospital.

Maggie sighed. "Kidnapping. Clare's going after Udonna alone and knowing her, she may need a bit of back-up at some point."

* * *

"Okay, just so I'm clear, what exactly do you know about all the different worlds?" Maggie asked as she and Leanne walked through the Briarwood forest, trying to find a path that would lead them to Clare. Since they didn't want the walk to be completely silent, they began having a conversation, Maggie choosing the topic first. "Start with the magic realm, please."

Leanne nodded. "The mystic warriors have always protected the magic realm, and the human realm when necessary. My uncle and Daggeron were among the best. My aunt Niella was lost in the battle when she sealed the gates, and Clare is the newest gatekeeper. Leanbow was thought to be dead, but you know that story. Anyway, like your family, my family is full of whack jobs. I know there's a woman known as the mystic mother, but I think she used to be against power rangers before some sort of wave turned her good."

"Really?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Don't know much about that. But there's multiple woodland and magical creatures that could be anywhere. Pixies and fairies, elves, goblins, trolls, dragons, anything. It was a peaceful place until the great war, then it was peaceful again once that aftermath was over. And since then, I have learned that my cousin is alive and goes by the name of Nick, thanks to you filling me in."

"Okay, now what about the Pai Zhuq stuff?" Maggie continued. "I mean, I know quite a bit already, and Lils and I are masters, but I feel like I don't know much about it."

"Alright," Leanne bit her lip. "My uncle, Master Mao, runs it. He teaches students to harness their animal spirits and use different kinds of weapons. Like I believe yours is a machete, Lily's is a bo, and so on. The academy grounds are peaceful and protect a box that a villain named Dai Shi is locked in from a great war that was thousands of years ago."

"Why do I see him being released in the future?" Maggie mused.

Leanne chuckled. "That's why uncle is trying to find the other three members of the Order of the Claw, who will have the job of protecting the box to make sure he doesn't escape. The story tells of three of the greats who defeated him and died doing so. It tells of another who joined them shortly after becoming a master herself, and that woman was your aunt, the one your father killed. Then there's masters Phant, Swoop, Finn, and the wolf master who I can never remember the name of."

"RJ," Maggie supplied. "That's the wolf one's name. When we had that birthday party for Lils and I a couple years ago and we were at the pizza place Kelly recommended and brought us to, it was RJ who ran everything because he was a one man business, and I noticed the master tattoo…hey, maybe that's who she's dating."

"Focus, Mags," Leanne stated. "Now there are gonna be four people to be chosen for the Order of the Claw. My uncle told me that you are one of them, and you're probably gonna have to move to Ocean Bluff within the next couple years. Other than that, I don't know much."

"Okay," Maggie grinned. "Now I know as much as you know about the ninja academies, but I remember a letter being sent to the Ember Academy addressed to your mother, along with finding a pink circle thing with a symbol on it. Care to explain?"

Leanne sighed. "Samurai. That circle thing is a folding zord, and the letter was telling my mother that she was going to be needed in the near future to take up her hereditary duties as a samurai ranger. Since it's passed down from parent to eldest child, and my mother is now deceased, I have to go. I have no idea who the hell is on that team, but from what I managed to gather, I was possibly going to be the youngest of the group. I know there's an orange one and white one, but I believe someone stole those zords, preventing them from being passed down to the child in the next generation, my generation of it. There are the typical colors of red, yellow, blue, pink, and green. When I go, I won't be able to contact anyone from the outside world until we defeat whatever villain it may be."

"That's kinda harsh," Maggie frowned.

"Yeah, but if it means making the world safe for us, then I guess I could put up with it," she sighed.

"Hey, look," Maggie pointed to a familiar blonde walking in front of them. "There she is!" Using their ninja streaking, they caught up to Clare in record time, startling the blonde when they stopped.

Clare looked between her cousin and the orange ranger. "What are you two doing here?"

"I figured you may need some back up at some point because rescue missions are never a one person job," Maggie shrugged. "So since Leanne's your family and she's fiercely protective of family, I brought her along."

"Well, thanks," Clare let out a breath of relief. They continued walking along the road in the forest, moving quickly. They jumped out behind two familiar figures, one Maggie was not happy to see. "Much time to do what?"

Leelee turned and faced the three girls as Phineas stood a bit out of the way. "I'm going to save the white sorceress."

"I should turn you into a stickleberry, you vamp witch!" Clare spat.

"Try it, granola," the other blonde retorted.

"Where is Udonna?" Clare demanded.

"Ladies!" Phineas interrupted. "Ladies, we are all on the same team here."

Maggie shot the troblin a look, but Clare beat her to speaking. "Phineas, do you not know who this is? This is Necrolai's daughter!"

"Listen," Leelee glared. "You can trust me or not, But if you want to save Udonna, I'm the only one who can get you to her."

There was a silence.

* * *

A/N: Leaving it here. Sorry if it's a bit shorter than normal, and sorry for the lack of Hunter. He will be in the next chapter, I promise. What'll happen next, and what'll be revealed? Thanks for reading and or reviewing!


	29. Light Source Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 29: Light Source**

**Part II**

_A/N: Well, here's the second part. Sorry if the last part was a bit crappy. So anyway, last time, Maggie and Leanne set off to find Clare and help her find Udonna, running into Leelee and Phineas along the way. The other rangers were fighting off Hekatoid while they did so. Anyway, what'll happen this chapter, and what'll Maggie reveal? What is Hunter planning?_

_Three more chapters after this!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Maggie, Leanne, Clare, Phineas, and Leelee found themselves hiding behind a bunch of bushes, staring at a portal leading into the place they needed to get into. The problem was that it was being guarded by the foot soldiers. "Udonna's inside that portal," Leelee informed. Beside her, Leanne felt Maggie tense up tremendously. She looked at the girl, wondering why.

"Thanks," Clare whispered. "We'll take it from here. Those styxoids won't know what hit them. Infuso…"

"No no no no no!" Leelee stopped her. "You can't use magic. It'll alert the others."

"What if we use it to send her back?" Leanne asked, noting the look in Maggie's eyes. She knew where this was headed, and she needed to get her out of here before she did something to set them back. "She's about to have a nervous breakdown and it won't be good for us if she starts lashing out."

"I guess we could," Leelee bit her lip. "But we'd have to be careful about it."

Leanne nodded and turned to Maggie, who was staring blankly ahead and feeling very tense. Leanne summoned her powers to knock her unconscious, preventing the breakdown from even happening. "She's good to go." Clare nodded and used a bit of her magic to send Maggie back to a familiar place for when she would wake up. "Now, what do you suggest we do to get in there?" Leelee smirked and ducked back under.

The other three watched as she popped up on the other side and walked over to the styxoids. "No passage," they stopped her.

"Excuse me?" she glared. The three in the bushes sank back down. "Do you know who I am? I'm Leelee Pimvare. Rearrange the letters in my last name, and oh, what do you get? Yeah, vampire. In fact, I'm the next queen of the vampires, so…"

"You're not on the list," one of them cut her off.

"Not on the list?" she scoffed. "Did you not hear me? One phone call to my mother Necrolai and the two of you are so deep in the Underworld you're digging down to get yourselves back up. Now turn around." The styxoids obeyed her and the blonde motioned for the other three to go through. They made it into the portal before being spotted.

* * *

Penny Chilman found herself at home after school, once again finding herself alone as her siblings were off at school or work, her nephew was at school then daycare, and her sister and Hunter were more than likely off fighting another monster that she heard was attacking the city. However, when she walked into the living room, she found Maggie passed out on the couch, a slight mark on her shoulder from where Leanne shocked her.

The seventeen year old blonde frowned, wondering why her older sister was here and not fighting and wondering what had happened that caused her to be here. She set her backpack on the floor behind the couch before heading into the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. Once she did that, she headed over to her sister and carefully dripped a bit of the water on the brunette's forehead. She watched as Maggie's eyes began fluttering before she finally woke up.

"What happened?" she groaned. "Where am I?"

"I don't know," Penny shrugged. "We're at home. You tell me what happened."

"All I remember is walking through the woods with Leanne trying to find Clare so we could help her find Udonna," she sat up slowly. Penny took a seat next to her and handed her the glass of water. Maggie gladly took it, sipping at it.

"So can I assume the others are off fighting the giant frog thing attacking the city?" Penny raised an eyebrow.

"I would," Maggie nodded. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "You know you can. We may not be as close as you and Lils are, but you're still my sister."

"I think Hunter's cheating on me."

It took Penny a minute to realize what she was saying. "You're kidding, right? He would never cheat on you. How could you even think that?"

"He just seems to be distant lately, and he's hardly talking to me," she stated. "I mean, it just feels…"

"Mags, I can assure you he's not cheating on you," Penny spoke seriously. "He would never do that to you."

* * *

After talking to her sister, Maggie found herself entering the Rock Porium through the Storm Chargers. The two stores had connecting employee lounges so they could go over to the next one without leaving the actual stores. She was going to go join the others in the fight, but her brain was a bit fried from Leanne shocking her. She decided to wait inside the Rock Porium for the others to return, knowing this would probably be the first place they came to when the fight was over. After a little while, she found Nick and Xander reading a note taped to the front door. She moved and walked to it, opening it to let them in.

"Maggie, is Leelee here?" Xander asked as they walked in.

"No, she's…" Maggie paused mid sentence. "I can't remember where she is. I remember seeing her, but I can't remember where."

"What's wrong with you?" Nick frowned.

"Lena shocked me because I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown," the brunette shrugged. "My brain's a little fried right now and I'm having trouble thinking clearly."

Nick sighed. "I can't believe this. This is all my fault. If I just stayed on my bike and blew through this town, none of this would've happened."

"Nick, don't beat yourself up about the past," Xander advised. "We're in this together."

"You don't get it," Nick huffed. "Nobody gets it! I never knew my real parents or where I came from. Now that I find out, it's all taken away from me. I'm alone again."

"I know how you feel Nick," Xander nodded. "But you're not alone."

"You know how I feel?" the red ranger raised an eyebrow.

"As do I," Maggie piped up. "I felt alone for most of my life. I wish that I never knew my real father, but unfortunately, I do. He kept secrets from me my entire life that I had to find out from time traveling. Do you know how disturbing it is to find out one of your uncles was a guinea pig and the other used to try and take over the world? My life was ruined because of my father."

"How?" Xander frowned.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "My father used me as his punching bag for eight years of my life, finally ending once I conceived Bentley. I couldn't tell anyone because who would believe a kid? He's the reason why I'm overprotective of my family. The last night he attacked me, I was supposed to be killed by him. If Lily hadn't found me when she did, I would've been dead. I may have had friends growing up, but I still felt alone because I couldn't tell anyone."

"So that's what you, V, and Maddie are constantly talking about that we don't understand," Nick realized, causing the brunette to nod.

"Wait, so technically, your son is also your half brother?" Xander blinked. Once again, Maggie nodded. "So how exactly are you related to Vida and Maddie?"

"We share the same birth mother," Maggie stated. "My half brothers and I share the same birth father, my brothers being older than me. My brother Shane was on my first team with me, and my mentor on that team who was a guinea pig at the time turned out to be my uncle, as did the villain we were fighting off at the time. The green ranger on that team turned out to be my cousin, his father being my mentor. Nick's cousin Leanne married my cousin Cam, so technically, we're related through their marriage. The Chilmans adopted me the same year I gave birth to Bentley, and no matter how hard I try to explain it, my family tree needs to be mapped out to be explained."

"Either way Nick," Xander shook his head. "You're not alone. You got us. We're your friends. We're your mates, your family."

Nick nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry. You're right."

"'Course I am," Xander chuckled. "And we're gonna get Udonna back no matter what it takes."

"But how?" Nick continued.

Before he could get his answer, the other four rangers appeared at the door, walking in. "No Leelee." Vida reported. Hunter went to stand by Maggie, wrapping an arm around her. Leanne had called him during their search for Leelee, letting him know what happened to Maggie. "What's plan B?"

"Oh, you're here," Toby appeared in the doorway, still jogging in place. "I was beginning to wonder if you worked here or not. Boy, this diet and exercise – it sure makes the world of difference." He started jogging to the other end. "I feel fantastic."

"Glad you're feeling better, Toby," Nick sighed.

"Well, why the long faces?" he frowned, looking at all the rangers. "You want some water, maybe fruit?" the others removed the rollerblades from his hands. "I know something's wrong. You come. You go. You come back. You go away again. You might as well tell me. It'll make you feel better."

After sharing a few brief looks, Nick was the one to speak up. "You're right. It's time for you to know the truth. We're the power rangers. That's why we're always running off all the time. We have to protect the world from evil."

"You're not trying to stop this?" Hunter whispered to Maggie, who shook her head.

"My brain's a bit too fried to think clearly," she replied. "Lena's powers are a bit stronger than yours." Hunter shook his head as he dug out a few painkillers from his pocket, handing them to his girlfriend who took them.

"You've tried that one on me before," Toby frowned, getting their attention. "Now, what's the real truth?"

"That is the real truth," all seven chorused.

"Okay," Toby shrugged. "Uh, well, why don't you prove it to me? Let me see you, uh, morph."

Chip was the one to answer this time. "We can't. We had our powers stolen by an overweight, sloppy frog."

"What?" Maggie's eyes widened, hearing this bit of info for the first time.

"Convenient," Toby mused. "But the real power rangers would figure out a way to get their powers back. The fate of the world rests in their hands."

"Yeah, we know," Maddie nodded.

"See," Toby continued. "The real power rangers would realize that the frog was overweight…"

"And use our agility," Maggie finished, catching on.

Toby agreed. "Exactly. They're in such great shape. If he goes left, well, they'd tumble right. If he came forward, well, they'd flip over the top. The real power rangers are as healthy as they come."

"You're right Toby," they grinned before running out, leaving him alone.

* * *

When the rangers arrived on the scene, they spotted Daggeron taking on Hekatoid by himself. They knew they were taking a huge risk in a few areas by not being in morph, but as rangers, they had to be willing to do so. Hekatoid turned to them, seeing them ready to fight and not in morph. "I have your powers," he taunted. "You can't do anything." All seven charged, ducking and dodging any attack thrown their way. "Hey, that's not fair!"

The rangers kept moving around, Hunter and Maggie using their ninja powers every clear shot they could get. They were using their ninja streaking powers to move too quick for the frog to see or properly aim at them. "Oh, I'm getting tired," Hekatoid grumbled.

"How long can we keep this up?" Vida asked, looking to her older sister who she grouped up with.

"Until we get that jar with your powers in it," Maggie replied. Unlike the others, she could still morph. Apparently Nick had the same idea as he ran forward and knocked said jar out of the frog's hands. The red ranger caught it before it hit the ground. All the rangers gathered around him as he opened it. Their power was returned to them.

"It doesn't matter," Hekatoid huffed. "Look!" up above, the baby frogs began raining down. "Fall my children!" However, before they could reach the rangers, the frogs froze, literally. "What? What happened?"

"They froze," Daggeron frowned.

A familiar voice gained their attention. "That's right." They turned to see the white mystic force ranger standing on a balcony above. "I thought you could use some snow power." Grinning, the rangers moved and joined her up on the balcony.

"Udonna, you're back," Nick greeted.

"Yes," she nodded. "Come on. Let's do it!"

"Gladly," Nick nodded. All seven rangers grabbed their morphers.

"Legendary Source, Mystic Force!" Unbeknownst to them, their boss had seen them morph.

"Flurry of Snow, White Mystic Ranger!"

"Power Rangers, Mystic Force!"

Hekatoid was furious. "You won't stop me! I'm a terror!" He fired goop at them, causing them all to put up a shield. Udonna made the first move, firing from her snow staff.

* * *

When the fight was finally over, everything was back to normal for the time being. While the others were in the woods with Udonna, Clare, Leelee, and Phineas, Maggie and Hunter headed for home. Leanne had left earlier, needing to get back to work. Maggie figured her and Hunter's walk home would be a good time to talk to him, whether he wanted to or not. "What's going on?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Hunter frowned, not sure what she was talking about. Then again, his earlier conversation with Kelly should've given him a hint.

"I mean why are you distancing yourself?" she continued. "I feel like we hardly do anything anymore. We haven't gone on a date in weeks, and I know part of that's because of us running the shop and having to run off to fight, but it just makes me think…"

"That I'm cheating on you?" he raised an eyebrow. Seeing his girlfriend's questioning look, he chuckled. "Penny and Kelly told me after you went and talked to them. I can assure I'm not nor would I ever do that to you."

"Then what is it?" Maggie pressed. "I don't like being left out."

"It's just something that I realized a while ago and I'm still trying to figure it out," he stated. "It's all jumbled and kind of hard to explain, but when I figure it out, I'll tell you."He gave her a kiss as they approached the house.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so not the best ending, but oh well. What'll happen next when it's only one more chapter before the final arc?


	30. The Return

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 30: The Return**

_A/N: Okay, so after this there's only two more chapters, which I'm not going to have go exactly as they do in the show except for the end scene. Anyway, I have it not only be Vida but Maddie as well who helps Matoombo in this chapter, mainly to give it something a little more. I'm not sure how this chapter will go, so bear with me. All I know is that this is almost the end of the story, and part of what Hunter has been planning comes into play._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

All the rangers, Leelee, and Bentley were sitting along the stage in the Rock Porium, having just finished telling Toby everything about their ranger career. He had seen them morph in their final fight against Hekatoid, and he wanted to know everything. The rangers took the time the next day to fill him in, wanting to tell him as much as possible. Hunter and Maggie even shared the fact they were rangers before this. Now, they all waited to hear Toby's reaction as he took in the information he just learned.

"So you guys really are the power rangers?" he began. They all nodded. "Okay, uh, Nick is the red ranger. And Xander is green. Madison – blue. Chip – yellow. Vida – pink. Hunter – crimson. And Maggie is orange."

They all nodded once more.

"Okay, so, Nick is also the son of Udonna, the white ranger, and Leanbow, a powerful wizard who is also Koragg, the guy who's been trying to trash the city, but he's really a good guy. It's just that nobody knows what happened to him."

"I'm impressed Toby," Maddie nodded. "That's quite…"

"I haven't finished," he interrupted. "Now Nick is also the light, the power to stop evil from taking over. But the bad guys are looking for the light so that they can destroy him and then destroy the world."

"Exactly," Chip confirmed.

Toby shushed him. "Silence. Now, Maggie and Hunter are also ninjas, meaning they can control fire and thunder." To confirm, Maggie created a fire ball and Hunter nodded. "And Hunter was the crimson ranger on the ninja team a few years ago. Maggie was also the orange ranger on the past two teams, one which she fought off the guy she later learned to be her uncle, and the other which she gained the ability to size shift."

"Yep," the two ninjas stated.

"Now," Toby finished up. "Leelee's mom is the queen of the vampires who really did carry me off, so I guess I can stop seeking professional help now."

"Sorry about that," the blonde apologized.

"And…and now, the ten terrors are here," Toby ended his rant. "Trying to call forth the head honcho himself – you know, the master of all evil. And you know what that means?" they heard screaming from outside. "It means that you guys won't be working your regular hours for a while. Looks like it might be just me and Lee-squared for a bit."

The door opened and they all turned to see Phineas enter the store. "You think you'd never seen a troblin before!" he shouted to the screaming people outside. Leelee smiled and ran over to him. "Hello. Thought I'd stop by and see you, my girl. Ooh, these are for you," he handed her the bouquet of radishes in his hands. The rangers couldn't help but laugh about how weird it was to see Leelee and Phineas dating.

"Isn't he cute?" she gushed. "He's my new boyfriend."

"You're seeing Xander's uncle from the old country?" Toby frowned.

Maybe there was one part they left out in their explanation.

* * *

While the others were trying to help Toby figure out a solution to their work hours, Hunter and Maggie found themselves heading into Blue Bay Harbor, taking Bentley with them. The ninjas were all getting together to hang out and catch up, considering a lot has changed since it had been a while since they last saw each other as a group. It was just the ninjas who were rangers that were able to get together, since Skyla didn't want to go, Leanne had to work, and Kelly…well, she wasn't a ninja but she was invited, yet she had turned down the invite saying she had something more important to work on.

Now, even though it was nearing the end of October, the rangers found themselves at the beach. Tori and Maggie were in the water on surfboards, the blonde helping the fire ninja get over her fear of the ocean while continuing her surfing lessons. The guys were keeping an eye on Bentley as they tossed a Frisbee around, turning it into a competition. Bentley was sitting near the beach blankets, working on building a sand castle.

"Come on Mags," Tori urged. "It's not that complicated. You've done it before."

"Sorry," she sighed. "I just got a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" she asked. "Is it about Hunter?"

"Part of it is," Maggie nodded. "I get the feeling he's hiding something. I mean, I talked to him about it, and he said that when he figures it out, he'll let me know, but I can't help but feel there's more to it. The other part is that I feel like this ranger thing is gonna be over soon, and it's not gonna be pretty."

"When was the end of a ranger adventure ever pretty?" Tori raised an eyebrow.

Maggie chuckled. "Well, it's pretty to me if I annoy them to death because pain killers kicked in and they explode into millions of pieces."

"True," Tori grinned. "You got a point there. But it's only you that's like that. Let's get back to the Hunter thing. Maybe you're just imagining he's seeming distant."

"No, I'm not," Maggie shook her head. "I talked to him about it, and he knows he's becoming a bit distant. I just feel like there's a secret he's keeping from me that I could help him with."

"I take it if it's something concerning your relationship, he probably wouldn't talk to you at first," Tori shrugged. "And there's not many people he can talk to about your relationship because only few people know. I mean, Cam, Skyla, Shane, Blake, Dustin, even Leanne of all people still don't know you two are dating." Then she paused. "Come to think of it, Blake acted the same way not long before he proposed."

"You don't think he's planning to, do you?" Maggie's eyes widened a bit. While she was thrilled at the thought of being married one day and being able to have a family of her own, her father had made it so she feared that day would never come, so she also felt a bit horrified.

Tori shrugged. "Could be. I mean, I don't know. I figured if he was planning to, he would've asked everyone who knows about your relationship for advice on it before actually putting it into motion. He hasn't said anything to me about it."

"Maybe that's because you know you wouldn't be able to keep secrets from me," Maggie smirked, right before her morpher went off causing her to fall off the surfboard. The brunette popped back up, morpher in hand. "Yeah?"

"_We're searching for the newest terror, Matoombo, who ran off. We can't find him so we split up to cover more ground. Think you and Hunter can search for a while?"_

"We'll check everywhere we can, V," Maggie nodded. She hung up and looked to Tori. "Mind watching my son until I get back?"

Tori nodded as Maggie darted out of the water.

* * *

"There he is," Maggie muttered as she and Vida had caught up to each other on the mystic racers. She joined the girl in the search as Hunter went to join Chip, who was the only other one flying solo on the search. The two girls jumped down from their cycles, landing on the top of a grassy cliff. They demorphed in the process, seeing Matoombo holding a ball that a child gave him after he saved the child's life.

"Why did he give me this thing?" they heard him say.

"It's called a ball," Vida gained his attention. Matoombo turned to them. "It's meant for play. Give it here." Matoombo handed it over. "Thanks. You can do lots of things with it. You can bounce it. You can spin it. You can kick it!" she demonstrated all of them, the last one resulting in Matoombo being hit in the face by it. Vida and Maggie tensed up a bit, waiting for the reaction.

To their surprise, he laughed. "Ball."

"Yeah," Maggie nodded. "That's right. Ball. Except you're supposed to catch it before it hits you in the face."

"You're not like the others, are you?" Vida asked.

"What do you mean?" Matoombo questioned.

Maggie continued. "You don't want to hurt anyone?"

"I am Matoombo," he stated. "Energy warrior of the Underworld."

"You're not very evil," Vida rephrased her sister's statement. "We just saw you save that child from getting hurt. You have a good heart."

"Heart?" he frowned.

"My name's Maggie," the brunette began. "I'm the orange ranger. This is Vida, pink ranger."

"Hello," Matoombo greeted. Both girls held out their hands. Matoombo went to shake them, only to be shot back by crimson and yellow blasts.

"Watch out!" they heard Chip and Hunter yell as the two guys came to stand on either side of the girls. Well, they were going to fight Matoombo off, had it not been for the girls holding them back. Both boys had their magi staffs drawn, ready to attack.

"Put the staffs down," Vida ordered.

"V, he's trying to destroy our world," Chip reminded her. "Morph already!"

Maggie growled. "Put the staff down now." Hunter, knowing how bad her wrath could get, lowered his staff. "Trust us." Chip did the same, both boys dropping their morph. "Thank you."

"I am Matoombo!" the terror repeated. "Conqueror of your world!"

"See?" Hunter raised an eyebrow. "He's going to conquer the world. We've got to stop him."

However, Vida and Maggie were determined to prove them wrong.

* * *

After proving the boys wrong, all the rangers had landed themselves in a fight against Gekkor, who was trying to get Matoombo to return to them. Most of the rangers were confused as to what was going on, especially when Vida and Maggie borrowed Daggeron's train to take them somewhere else. Gekkor had followed the two girls, Jenji, and Matoombo onto the train, looking to fight. Now, the two girls were walking through the woods with Matoombo. The others were now facing Itassis in the middle of the woods in their dimension. The terror had approached them after the girls left.

"…The Dawn Dimension," Itassis finished the explanation. "To the sleeping lake."

"Tell us how to get there," Daggeron demanded as they stood in a circle around her.

"I am not like the others," Itassis stated. "I crave knowledge, not power. I'll send you there myself after you tell me what I need to know."

"How do we know you'll still help us once we give you the information you want?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

"As a gesture of good faith," Itassis continued. "I will send two of you to their destination right now…only two. If given the answer that I seek, I will send the others."

Nick stepped up first. "I'll go."

"I should be one of the ones to go," Daggeron added.

"They're my sisters," Maddie put in her piece. "I'll go."

"I'm not afraid," Xander huffed. "I'll go."

"Remarkable," Itassis rolled her eyes. "But I will send them." Before anyone could blink, Hunter and Chip vanished into thin air, leaving the others alone with the terror.

* * *

"It's so beautiful here," Vida commented. The place was very peaceful and full of life. The birds were singing and the sun was shining, and nothing looked wrong. The two girls stood on either side of Matoombo, helping him to the sleeping lake.

"Yes," Matoombo agreed. "It sets the mind at ease."

"V!"

"Maggie!"

All three stopped and turned to see Hunter and Chip running toward them. The two girls frowned, wondering how they got here and if the others were there as well. However, before anything could be done, Matoombo was shot down. The four rangers stood together as Gekkor came into view. "Surprise! There's nowhere to run, traitor! Surrender to the master or be destroyed!"

"Legend Warriors!" the four rangers quickly morphed, defending themselves and Matoombo from being injured by the blast fired at them.

"He's firing too many!" Vida grumbled.

"One is too many!" Chip retorted. Gekkor shot him down, causing him to fall and lose his lion staff. Gekkor fired once more, sending an attack that rained down on Matoombo.

"Matoombo!" Maggie shouted.

Chip, however, was confused. "You took the hit that was meant for me. Why?"

"Fools!" Gekkor charged before he could get an answer. Chip got back up, and together, he and Hunter tackled Gekkor, holding him back. Chip managed to recover his lion staff, and the two guys combined attacks to injure Gekkor. Vida and Maggie did the same, further injuring him. In a gust of dusty wind, the five disappeared, leaving Gekkor alone.

* * *

A morphed Chip, Vida, and Hunter ran through the area, leading Matoombo away. They knew Gekkor was chasing after them, furious at them for abandoning the fight. However, they had other plans and they needed to act fast. Gekkor flew above and began firing at them. All four jumped over a cliff just as he fired, causing them to land on the ground. "Come on," Hunter urged. "Get up!"

"Playtime is over, Matoombo," Gekkor appeared before them. "Now I…" he froze mid sentence, spotting the giant orange bow on Matoombo's back. "What? The orange ranger? You can't trick me!" he fired at the four, causing Maggie to transform back into herself from her Matoombo disguise.

"You're a two time loser," she smirked. "Ugly and gullible." The four rangers stood.

"With you chasing us," Chip continued. "Our tall, Cotton headed friend had enough time to get to the sleeping lake."

"Explain that one to your master," Vida finished up. Gekkor, angry, fired at all four once more, knocking them down.

* * *

The fight had been long and somewhat confusing. The other rangers had shown up to help, thanks to Itassis sending them there. Near the end of the fight, Leanbow had returned, on their side. He helped them finish off Gekkor. He had saved the rangers when he first appeared. By the end of the entire fight, the rangers had seen what was thought to be the Master rise, using Matoombo as his host. To all the rangers, especially Maggie and Hunter, this meant the end was near.

The rangers all went back to their homes, hoping to get some rest after the fight. Maggie and Vida were a bit upset that Matoombo had to be the host for the Master, and Chip and Hunter could sense it. Both boys decided to spend the rest of the day comforting them.

Overall, they all knew that their final fight was closing in.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I was debating whether or not Maggie should find out about Hunter's idea at the end of this chapter or the beginning of the next one. I decided on the latter mainly because I'm going to change the final fighting up a bit and make it so it's not exactly like the episodes, and not all fighting scenes will be included. The final fight where they destroy the master definitely will be, but ones like Nick turning evil might not be.


	31. Mystic Fate Part I

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 31: Mystic Fate**

**Part I**

_A/N: As I said at the end of the last chapter, I am not going to include all the fight scenes, and I am going to try and do this a bit differently than how it actually goes in the show. Some of the fight scenes may not involve all the characters, and Maggie learns what Hunter's idea was in the beginning of this chapter. Anyway, what'll happen in the beginning to the end?_

_I'm updating this in celebration of me finishing up writing the ninth story in this series, totaling in at 96 chapters! More info at the bottom._

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the shows._

* * *

Maggie found herself cleaning out the closet in her and Hunter's bedroom, searching for something she needed. Hunter had left early to finish fixing up a few bikes before they had to open shop, and everyone was already in school. Well, her brothers had afternoon classes today, so they were taking the morning off.

It had been a stressful week for all the rangers. Ever since they learned the Master had returned, they hadn't been able to stop worrying about when the final attack would begin. They knew it was coming, and they were keeping their guard up. However, they all still had other things to do and worry about along with it, giving them more reason to stress out.

As she cleaned and searched, Maggie couldn't help but wonder what exactly Hunter was doing that caused him to still be a bit distant. She believed him when he said he wasn't cheating on her and never would, but there was still that feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't good or something wasn't going to end how it should. She got lost in her thoughts and hit her head on one of the shelves, causing a small box to fall from it and hit her in the head before bouncing to the floor.

Maggie noticed and frowned, picking it up and opening it. She was shocked to see what was inside. Figuring her brothers might know, she went out to the living room where they were watching TV. They immediately turned to her and saw what she was holding up. "Do either of you know what this is about?"

Roger and Ronald shared a nervous look, debating whether or not they should tell her the truth.

* * *

Kelly had just opened up the store for the day when a blur of brown and orange dragged her inside into the back room, grinning. When the room stopped spinning and the red head regained her focus, she looked to Maggie, wondering what the hell was going on. She found the brunette grinning madly and happily, a kind of happy she had never seen on Maggie's face before. Something inside Kelly told her that this was something she was not going to believe.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked. No one had come into the store yet.

"I got engaged!" Maggie grinned, very happy.

"What?" Kelly's eyes widened. Of course, she knew Hunter was planning to do so, but she didn't think he would do it this soon. "When? How? Where? He finally asked you?"

"This morning, the house, and no, he didn't ask me yet," Maggie bit her lip, smile fading.

Kelly frowned. "Then how are you engaged?"

"I was looking through the closet for something and found the box this was in," she showed Kelly the ring. "I asked Roge and Ron what it was, and they explained that Hunter seemed distant because he was planning to propose as soon as we defeated the Master. I decided I would put it on and see if he noticed it at any point and get the hint that I'm saying yes when he does ask."

"Well, congrats, I think," Kelly blinked, still a bit confused. "But how do you think he's going to ask you if he can't find the ring?"

"I have that planned out," the brunette smirked.

* * *

Maggie found herself entering the Ember Academy, ready to teach the classes she had to for the day and choose the new Senseis. She was having a tough time deciding who it should be, considering the six students she had were all qualified for the job. Of course, she had a lot to worry about aside from that, like when the master was going to finally attack. However, when she entered academy grounds, she found it under attack.

Naturally, she charged forward, morphing as she went. She saw some of her students fighting off hidiacs and styxoids, all of them doing well. She wondered how the hell they got in there, considering they had very tight security, especially after the incident with Lothor. Not wanting a repeat of that, she immediately located the main enemy, spotting the fish faced terror cackling madly.

"Eric, Stacy," she called to the top two students. "Keep the others safe. I'll handle this ugly. Worse come to worse, battle formation."

"Got it Sensei dudette," Eric nodded.

"What he said," Stacy agreed. The two set off to help the other students as Maggie readied herself to take on Sculpin.

She faced him and growled. "What do you want, fish face?"

"You," he smirked. "And your powers!" He fired at her, causing her to put up a shield that deflected the last. However, it didn't prove to be very effective as she thought. The attack pushed back on her, eventually becoming too much for her to push back. She was knocked over, being consumed by the blast. When the smoke cleared, neither she nor the enemy were in sight. Her students were confused as the fighting suddenly stopped. Moments later, four other ninjas entered the academy.

"Shit," the water ninja cursed.

"Dude, what happened?" the earth ninja looked around.

"Are we a bit too late?" the air ninja frowned.

The last one sighed. "We need to head back to Ninja Ops."

* * *

The rangers had been relaxing in the Rock Porium or Storm Chargers most of the morning. The Rock Porium was having a serious lack in customers, and it gave the rangers nothing to do but sit and wait. Phineas had been unintentionally scaring off customers from the store, and it hadn't helped business. The rangers were thankful they had been called away by their morphers going off, alerting them all to trouble.

Their first fight against Itassis had not exactly gone as planned, and none of them had any idea where Maggie was. They were starting to worry about it, considering she never missed a fight unless one of them knew ahead of time where she was. None of them had seen her since the previous day –or early this morning in Hunter's case – and as a result, they were all worried. They hadn't exactly won the fight, but they hadn't exactly lost either. They could tell that though Itassis was putting up a rather good fight, she didn't really want to fight at all. She had vanished shortly after.

Now, as they were called once again for a fight, they stood in front of one of the woodland villages, seeing it had been recently destroyed. They had run into Leanbow, Udonna, and Daggeron on their way.

"Everyone has escaped," an elf was telling Leanbow. "But our village was destroyed.

"Here," he offered as the younger rangers, minus Maggie, who was still missing, ran onto the scene. "Let me help."

"There's Leanbow," Vida pointed. Udonna was helping a fairy pick up a few things. "Don't worry folks. Everything's gonna be okay."

"How can we help?" Chip piped up.

The elf speaking to Leanbow turned to them. "Leave us. You're not welcome here."

"But we're the mystic force," Maddie stated.

"Don't you remember us?" Xander added. "We're the protectors who you love and adore."

"I said go!" the elf shouted. "Humans do not belong here! Look around! Look what happened to our village! Our home destroyed, our crops ruined." He paused, his eyes widening as he started backing away. "You. She's back. The destroyer has returned!" the rangers turned to see a ninja in a fire ninja's uniform, mask and all, staring blankly at them. The uniform had a small skirt, telling them it was a female. Hunter, Vida, Maddie, and Udonna got a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they recognized who it was. They all knew Maggie was a fire ninja, and since she was the only one missing from the group, it wasn't hard to put together. The others, however, were confused.

"Maggie," Hunter whispered, wondering what was going on. The ninja's eyes glowed a bright orange, like the flames that littered pieces of debris in the small village.

Instead of speaking, the ninja threw out her hands, sending lines of flames at the rangers. They all jumped out of the way before the flames died down, wondering what the hell was going on. The rangers helped each other up from where they fell, this time ducking under a few fire balls being sent their way. "What's gotten into her?" Maddie demanded, looking over to Hunter.

"How should I know?" he shrugged. "I can't read her mind!"

"You will all be destroyed," the ninja spoke. However, to the ones who knew it was Maggie under the mask, she certainly didn't sound like Maggie. Instead, she sounded exactly like Sculpin did, indicating to the rangers that something was really off. She vanished before they could do anything.

"Well, how do we stop that?" Nick looked at his teammates as they regrouped.

A new voice added as they turned to see another ninja, this one in a different uniform, heading for them. "You can't save her until she saves herself."

"Cam?" Hunter frowned, wondering what the former green ranger was doing here.

"Her academy was attacked, and according to the students, a fish faced freak took her hostage," he explained. "If I were you guys, I'd go check on your base."

* * *

Everyone was back inside Rootcore, spotting the debris littered room. Clare was cleaning up the best she could by herself, and the others quickly joined her in trying to get the place cleaned up. Everyone was still wondering how exactly Maggie turned evil and what Cam had meant. Cam was also there, explaining a few things to Hunter, Vida, and Maddie about his cousin. He knew that out of the rangers on the mystic team, these three knew her best.

"How did she break out of it last time?" Vida asked. "I mean, I remember her saying something about when Lothor returned from the abyss, she was briefly turned evil, but she broke free of it on her own. She just never mentioned how."

"According to Lily," Cam began. "Who I talked to on my way over here, Maggie made her a promise that she would never turn evil. She was able to break free last time because she remembered that promise and was able to use mind over matter. However, it may not be the case this time."

"What do you mean?" Maddie frowned.

"We don't know how much she's under the influence of evil," Cam stated. "It's possible that she's being turned evil temporarily for short periods of time, or it could be like last time. Either way, it's definitely a form of mind control."

Hunter came to a conclusion. "So basically, if she breaks free and resists whatever hold evil has on her, then we're in the clear to save her, wherever she is?" Cam nodded. Suddenly, the wind picked up in the room, causing everyone to frown.

"Something's happened," Udonna spoke. "Something horrible." A blue portal appeared and the Snow Prince stepped out, falling down in pain. Nick, Xander, and Chip caught him before he could fall again. The three boys led him over to the stairs, helping him sit down.

"I'm here with terrible news," he groaned. "The Master has destroyed our realm. The Magical Source has been attacked. "

"The Mystic Mother?" Udonna demanded.

"Yes," he nodded.

Clare was first to speak. "Who's that?"

"The Empress of all good magic," Udonna stood. "Known as Rita in the dark days, she now uses her power to fight all that is evil."

"Her spell sent me back to your realm," Snow Prince finished. "But there was nothing I could do to help her."

"If the Mystic Mother is gone," Udonna mused. "No one will be able to stop the master." There were a few moments of silence before Leanbow spoke up.

"There's a chance the Mystic Mother might still be alive," he thought. He and Daggeron headed for the exit.

Nick stepped up. "Let me go with you."

"No," Leanbow denied. "Daggeron and I will handle this."

* * *

Maggie coughed as Sculpin finally left her head. She knew that he was using some sort of mind control to get her teammates to think she turned on them. He had gotten inside her mind and made it so she couldn't control her own actions or what she said. It was being done in a way that she was physically still in the room she had been sent to when she was captured, meaning that when the rangers faced her, all the attacks would do nothing. She would feel the pain from them, but she wouldn't be hurt by them.

"Why are you doing this?" she growled, trying to get back to her feet. Her mind was hurting badly, and she wanted to get away. She had seen Black Lance go off to fight the rangers, and she knew Itassis was probably destroyed.

"Simple," Sculpin smirked. "By using mind control to get the other rangers to think you turned, it will be easier to destroy them. At least half of them can't hurt you, and some of them are afraid to hurt you. Add to that the fact you hold more power than them makes it even better."

"You do realize this isn't going to get you anywhere?" she scoffed. "Good guys always win. The rangers will realize what you're up to and they'll realize it's not really me."

"So you think," Sculpin walked away, leaving her alone. She sat up against the wall, feeling something in one of her pockets. Frowning, she reached into it and pulled out something familiar to her. Grinning, a plan formed in her head.

Maybe there was a way for her to get out of here herself.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to end it here. Anything that happened from the third scene on was not in my original plans for this chapter. Don't ask why I decided to have Maggie evil instead of Nick, nor why I decided to have things turn out the way they did in this chapter. It just sorta happened as I got to writing this chapter. Anyway, one more chapter left.

What do you think of Maggie finding the ring?

Also, as mentioned above, I have all stories up to the ninth story in this series completed. I just finished the ninth one today (writing it, I mean), and it has 96 chapters and is a crossover story. It will be important because references in that story will be made to the samurai one when I get to that story in this series. Anyway, since I am so far ahead in writing this series and because getting to updating/posting that story will take quite a while, I am going to focus on **writing**other series, such as my Mixed Hearts series (already writing the sequel for that), and a video game I played on my iPod has given me an idea for a story as well.


	32. Mystic Fate Part II

**Torn Ties**

**Chapter 32: Mystic Fate**

**Part II**

_A/N: Well, when we left off, the rangers were caught in the beginning of their final battle. Itassis was fought at first. Maggie was kidnapped by Sculpin and is under some sort of mind control the others are trying to figure out. Leanbow and Daggeron went to see if they could find the Mystic Mother. The Snow Prince appeared, warning them that the Master was stronger. The rangers were last fighting off Black Lance, and Maggie had an idea on how to break free of the mind control._

_So, what'll happen?_

_Important Info at the bottom!_

_**Disclaimer: **__I only own things not originally in the show._

* * *

Maggie was grinning as Sculpin reentered the room, feeling the effects of the few painkillers she took kicking in. She knew that he wouldn't want to put her under mind control if she was loopy and couldn't think clearly, considering that could end badly for him. She knew the others were fighting off Black Lance, and she knew that this was something she had to break free of on her own. "Hey, fishy, how can you survive out of your fish tank?"

"What nonsense are you babbling about now?" Sculpin demanded, walking over.

"You're a fish," she giggled. "You can't talk and you can't survive without water."

"I am not a fish!" he growled. "I am Sculpin, one of the Ten Terrors ready to destroy the world!"

"Fish don't do anything," Maggie continued, giggling all the while. "They just swim around in water all day and night. And they don't talk."

Sculpin was becoming frustrated. "You're ruining my plans!"

"You look funny!" Maggie laughed, unable to think clearly, and Sculpin knew it. Giving a highly frustrated yell, he walked out of the room, leaving the orange ranger alone.

As soon as he left, the effects of the meds wore off. Maggie blinked a few times, starting to think clearly once more. She knew her plan was working now that she drove Sculpin away and prevented him from taking over her mind once more.

Shutting her eyes, she concentrated on two things: mind over matter and finding her home. She hoped that this would work like it did last time, when they discovered Leanbow was Koragg and Leelee was Necrolai's daughter and whatnot. Hopefully she could pull it off once more, and hopefully, things would go as she planned.

* * *

The fight against Black Lance had not gone as planned. The rangers were not doing well, considering they were knocked out of their megazord and lost their morph when they landed in a giant pile of debris. As they had fought off Black Lance, Udonna had fought off Sculpin, which did not end well either. She ended up losing her morph as well. Not only that, but she had been captured. They hadn't heard word from Daggeron or Leanbow, making them fear the worse even more.

Black Lance cackled as he faced the rangers. Now not only were Hunter, Maddie, and Vida pissed off that there was still no sign of Maggie, but Nick was as well, considering his mother had just been captured once more. All four found the strength to stand, morphing as they charged forward. Xander and Chip were confused as to what exactly was happening.

Nick, Vida, Maddie, and Hunter charged Black Lance, each taking their anger out on him. They dodged every blast thrown their way, and together, they broke Black Lance's shield. Nick called on Fire Heart, who flew in and attacked the terror, knocking him over. The dragon landed behind the four morphed rangers as the terror got to his feet.

"Your dragon will not save you this time," he growled. He fired, and when the smoke cleared, the four rangers stood, Nick in his battleizer. All four charged again, getting into the fight once more. Chip and Xander were torn between going to help or just watching as their teammates seemed to do pretty well on their own. A few blows sent Black Lance into more debris. Nick dropped the battleizer.

"You guys want in on this?" he turned to Chip and Xander.

"Gladly," the green ranger agreed.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" the two boys morphed, going to stand with their teammates, battle ready. All furious, they each took turns fighting off Black Lance, some of them combining attacks with one another.

All of them leapt into the air. "Mystic spell seal!" they knocked Black Lance down. A red flashing light grabbed their attention as they turned to the sky.

"What's that?" Hunter asked.

"That's him," Vida realized. "That's the Master!"

"Where's Daggeron and my father?" Nick demanded.

The Master, who was at megazord size, laughed. "Right here!" he dropped Daggeron on the ground, the others noting that he wasn't moving. Maddie ran over to him, trying to get him to wake up. "And Leanbow!" he dropped Leanbow, who fell next to Daggeron. Like the Solaris knight, he wasn't moving.

"This can't be," Nick shook his head. "All we've done was in vain. All this time, finding my dad."

"Nothing can stop me from bringing darkness and despair to this world!" the master cackled.

"What can you possibly gain by destroying the whole world?" Xander shouted.

"Your world is now my world," the master stated. He grabbed all the rangers in ropes tightly, lifting them into the air. "You want to see what my world will look like?"

* * *

After finally breaking free of the Master's hold on them and finding shelter, the rangers removed their helmets and took a few breaths, trying to figure out different battle strategies in their heads. They were four rangers down at this point, and they had no idea what to do. Their minds were clouded with different thoughts as they leaned against the wall in the cave they took shelter in.

The one thing they seemed to realize was that none of their attacks was affecting the master. No matter what they tried, he seemed to absorb it. Using Fire Heart to help them did the same thing. They knew this battle was going to be tough, but none of them ever thought it would be this hard to defeat the head villain. It wasn't this hard to defeat Lothor, Hunter knew that. They had managed to take down Lothor rather quickly compared to how long it was taking them to defeat the master in the final battle.

"All right," Chip breathed. "We're safe."

"Safe?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? That thing just destroyed our zord, not to mention Daggeron and my dad."

"So that's it?" Vida huffed. "The Great Nick, the red ranger, is calling it quits?"

"Don't walk away," Xander stopped him from moving. "Answer her. Are you giving up?"

"Get out of my way," Nick ordered.

Hunter stepped in. "No. You answer that."

"Guys, wake up and smell the darkness!" he shouted. "We've done our best, and we failed. We're no match for that thing. Fine. Yes, I've given up."

It was silent for a moment. Then, to their surprise, it was Maddie who stepped forward. "Don't you say that." She walked over to Nick. "Don't you say that, not you. You have held us together through all of this! You will not give up! Listen to me! Giving up is not an option for you! We are a team, and you are this team's leader! We go on, no matter what."

Everyone was silent, her outburst shocking them all. Before anyone could say or do anything, an orange portal opened up above Nick and out dropped the orange ranger, landing on Nick and pinning him to the ground. Hunter moved quickly to pick her up and help steady her. Vida and Maddie went to help as they steadied her and she came to.

"Maggie, are you all right?" Vida asked, getting her attention.

"I think so," she nodded. "Though I may need to see a doctor after this is over." She reached into her pocket, pulling out a few more pain killers. "Can I have these?"

"Go for it," Hunter nodded, seeing how much pain she was in. "With any luck, maybe you'll be able to annoy the Master to death."

"If we're lucky," she agreed. "So…what happened?" Before an answer was given, the cave shook, sending the rangers back a bit. Maggie morphed, feeling the need to do so.

The Master's voice rang through as they were pulled back to their world. "It is time to finish this meal."

* * *

After getting out of the cave and attempting to fight the master once more, the rangers found themselves standing among the debris after having used their magic to pull themselves back into their world. Nick had managed to start it, all of them joining in. The Master was still loose, and the rangers all found themselves in civilian form as they got to their feet. "We're back!" Vida grinned.

"Yeah," Nick nodded. "But now our magic is gone for good."

"Look what you've done to me," the Master huffed as he faced them, the same size as them. "You will pay for this!" He fired and the rangers ducked, hoping to not get hit. The impact never came, and cautiously, they looked up to see the tentacles disappear and Clare and the Snow Prince appear from a portal. "What?"

"Snow Prince?" Maggie frowned.

"Clare," Nick let out a sigh of relief as the rangers joined the two. "You have powers!"

"Yes," the blonde grinned. "Mystic Mother made me a full sorceress!"

The Master interrupted. "Liar! I destroyed the Mystic Mother!"

"No," Snow Prince denied. "Just before you attacked Mystic Mother, She cast a spell and turned herself into energy."

"A few magic tricks will not stop me," the Master scoffed. "I will return to the depths and gather my strength."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Udonna came into view, shocking everyone. "It seems your pit no longer exists."

"No longer exists?" the Master grumbled.

Itassis appeared next to Udonna. "What she means is that you no longer have a place to dwell in your darkness." Behind her stood Necrolai, looking unsure of what to do.

"Itassis!" the master looked shocked. "You're alive! Where is Sculpin?"

"He is no more," the terror replied.

"But I am your master!" the Master growled.

"Well this puppet has cut the strings," Itassis retorted. She fired at him, causing him to vanish for the moment. The rangers cheered a bit. Hunter kissed Maggie as Udonna hugged Nick and the others cheered in their own way. However, the moment was short lived. "The Master is gone for now, but he will be back. Tell me, white ranger, why do you shed tears?"

Udonna turned to her. "The tears are for our sadness, and for our losses. I cry for my husband, Leanbow, and Daggeron."

"That is something I cannot help you with," Itassis stated.

"My mom can," Leelee's voice reached their ears as they spotted her come in. She looked at Necrolai. "You can do anything you want, mom. Always could. Do it, mom! I believe in you."

Necrolai looked to Daggeron and Leanbow. "All right. I will try to revive them." She called forth her powers and concentrated, aiming for the two fallen warriors as the others stepped back. They watched as both men lost their suit of armor and the impact came back and hit Necrolai. The moment was tense as they waited for any kind of reaction.

After hearing groans coming from the two men as they came to and began to stand, the rangers knew that it had worked, making the moment good again. Jenji came to join them as well, causing a brief moment of celebration. However, their attention went back to Necrolai, who lay on the ground struggling to get up. A bright glow surrounded her before it disappeared. No longer was Necrolai a vampire, but rather a human. She stood, revealing a woman with shoulder length straight brown hair wearing an all black outfit.

"Leelee's mom is hot," Xander grinned, being the first one to break the silence and causing laughter to ripple through the group. The ground shaking ruined the moment again as they saw the master grow huge.

"Quite a reunion," he greeted. "Sorry I have to destroy it."

"Rangers, our magic is gone," Udonna spoke.

"I've got an idea," Jenji piped up. "Let's all run, okay?"

"No," Maggie shook her head yet. Her meds hadn't kicked in yet. "I've never run from a fight and I'm not running from one now. Stay and fight." She walked forward, taking a stand. Everyone joined her, ready to fight.

"We fight!" Vida agreed.

The Master nodded. "So be it. You are powerless now! My victory is already in hand!"

"We will show the master what real courage is," Nick breathed. "Even without magic."

A voice rang through the air. _"Without magic, mystic ones? You are never without magic. You just have to know where to find it." _

"'Never without magic?'" Maddie frowned. "What does she mean by that?"

"Maybe she meant us!" a female voice entered. They all turned to find Lily walking toward them, Toby next to her and a giant crowd of people behind them.

"Or maybe she meant us!" Phineas grabbed their attention. Behind him were a bunch of woodland creatures.

Toby explained. "Look, we talked to some of the people from the city, and told them that the forest and those that live there are not the ones for us to fear."

"And I spoke the same truth to those in the forest," Phineas added. "Either we stay the way we were and perish, or we stand together and fight the real evil!"

"Power rangers," Lily smiled as the groups came together in a circle around them, every human clasping hands with a woodland creature. "You have fought all year for us. Your magic is used up. Well, now let us give you some of our magic." Maggie couldn't help but grin and roll her eyes at her sister.

"That's right," Phineas nodded. "You're not the only ones. All of us believe in magic. Thanks to you." Toby and Phineas were the last to claps hands. As one, everyone around the rangers raised them and crowded together. Magic filled the air and surrounded the rangers.

"Together, we believe in magic!"

When the circle, broke, the mystic rangers stood in a line, morphed ready to fight the master.

"Wolf Warrior!"

"Solaris Knight!"

"White Mystic Ranger!"

"Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Orange Mystic Ranger!"

"Crimson Mystic Ranger!"

"Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Red Mystic Ranger!"

All of them stood together. "We call forth the magic, together as one, united for all time! Power Rangers Mystic Force!"

"Give me that magic!" the master yelled.

"You got it!" the rangers agreed. They fired their magic at him, watching as he ate it.

"I devour it, yet it still comes," the Master seemed confused.

"Guys, it's working!" Nick realized. "Keep going there is no end to our magic!"

"Stop!" the master growled. "It's too much!"

As one, the rangers floated into the air. "Full power!"

"I cannot take any more!" the Master bellowed. "I have…devoured…all I can!" In a matter of seconds, he blew up into pieces, leaving nothing but the rangers floating above the crowd of cheering people. The rangers floated back down to the ground and dropped their morph, happy the battle was finally over and that they saved the world from evil.

* * *

To help celebrate, there was a giant party going on outside in the park across from the Rock Porium and Storm Chargers, the party being hosted by the two stores. They had set everything up using their magic, and the woodland creatures and humans were getting along. Vida, whose hair was currently all pink, was at the turntables showing the revived Matoombo how to groove. Nick was over by his motorcycle, which rested where it did when he first came into Briarwood. Maddie was over there talking to him. Chip was telling a group of girls about the final battle, and Xander was showing off his new manager's vest.

Maggie had left her son with Lily, who was currently trying to get him to calm down. She laughed as she walked over to Vida and Matoombo. "Hey, V," she called. Vida turned to her older sister.

"Since when do you drink?" the pink ranger pointed at the beer bottle in Maggie's hands.

"Relax, I'm only having one," she assured. "Besides, I'm legal to drink. Anyway, you see it finally worked?" she pointed across the park to where Nick and Maddie were currently lip locked.

"Aw," Vida chuckled. "It's so cute." She turned back to Maggie. "Where's Hunter?"

"Probably looking for this," the brunette smirked, showing off the ring on her finger. Vida went wide eyed. She had known Hunter was going to ask, but she never thought Maggie would've figured it out. "I found out yesterday when I was searching for something. Roger and Ron told me what it was after I threatened to show their girlfriends pictures of them as babies."

"Nice," Vida laughed. Maggie nodded. "Hey, there he is."

Maggie looked across the park to see Hunter walking toward her, looking nervous. She laughed and left the bottle on the stage, excusing herself. She started walking toward Hunter, passing Maddie who was carrying Nick's blanket as she went to see Vida. "Hey," she smiled as she caught up to him.

"Hey," he greeted, kissing her. Maggie kissed back, deepening it and not willing to let go. When she finally did, she smiled up at him. "What…"

"Yes," she interrupted, knowing what he was going to do.

"Yes?" he blinked, unsure of what was going on. Maggie showed him the ring that rested on her finger and his eyes widened. "How did you…"

"It hit me in the head when I was searching for something to wear in the closet," she chuckled. "Roger and Ron told me what it was. I can't believe it took you this long to notice I was wearing it as my way of saying yes, I will marry you."

Hunter grinned and pulled her back in for a kiss.

* * *

A/N: Well, this is it. This is the end of this story. What'd you think? Thanks to everyone whose read, reviewed, or both. Up next is the sequel,** Smashed Windows. **It's not going to be exactly like the storyline, considering I'm changing a few things up to make this a bit more interesting.

Anyway, the important information is this:

**1**. I wanted to finish this story and thank those of you who have stuck through it since the beginning. I get this series is probably getting a little boring, or maybe it was just this story, but this is also the longest series I have planned. Up next is a short (4 chapters) sequel, and following that is a 26 chapter Jungle Fury story. Once that one is done, I have a 5 chapter story where Maggie gains yet another family member (will be important info for the RPM story when I get there). Then there is a 16 chapter story that's a crossover with _Glee, _and following that is a 10 chapter story of a giant ranger battle and involves the Megaforce team. From there, Maggie's ranger duties get passed onto her kids, but before they become rangers, I have a story that involves her eldest daughter (when it gets there) and is a crossover with _House of Anubis _(finished at 96 chapters). From there, I have yet to write the Samurai, SPD, RPM, and post RPM stories. So, as far as writing this series goes, stories 1-9 are done, and stories 10-13 have yet to be started.

**2. **I'm posting the third and final story in my Chosen Powers trilogy, so look for that under House of Anubis and Power Rangers crossovers. It's called House of The End.

**3. **Thanks for sticking with this series and story! Thanks to those who read/reviewed/added to alerts/favorites.

**4. **Updates will be slowing down for the following reasons: I have procrastinated so bad on my summer reading because I was working on fics. School starts for me on Friday, which means homework. I have college applications to complete. I have a job, and I seem to get screwed because I always get the night or mid-day shift, depending on if it's a school day or not.

Anyway, thanks for paying attention! The next story, **Smashed Windows, **will be up soon.


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